How much trucking insurance costs, according to neutral data

Checked against official sources · Last reviewed October 6, 2026

A DOT (Volpe Center) study summarized by FMCSA in 2014 found that insurance underwriting is specific to each carrier and there are no uniform pricing practices. The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) reports what carriers actually paid. In its 2025 report, truck insurance premiums averaged $0.102 per mile in 2024, a record high, and small specialized fleets paid more than twice that. [1][2]

What carriers paid per mile, 2015-2024

ATRI publishes *An Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking*. Its 2025 edition found insurance premiums rose 3.0 percent in 2024 to $0.102 per mile, a new record, after a 12.5 percent jump in 2023. These figures cover auto liability and cargo coverage, not physical damage or workers' compensation.

Sources: [1]

Insurance cost per mile by fleet size (2024)

Small specialized fleets (25 trucks or fewer) paid more than twice the industry-wide average in 2024. For truckload carriers, costs tend to fall as fleets grow, partly from economies of scale and partly because large fleets use more self-insurance or high-deductible policies.

Sources: [1]

What that means for a small carrier

At ATRI's 2024 figure of $0.174 per mile for truckload fleets of 5 to 25 trucks, a truck running 100,000 miles a year would pay about $17,400 in premiums for auto liability and cargo coverage (ATRI's figures exclude physical damage and workers' compensation). That's our arithmetic on ATRI's average, not a quote: your price depends on your record, cargo, lanes, and insurer.

Premiums were still rising in 2025. In the first two months of the year, carriers told ATRI their insurance premium costs were up 5.8 percent on average. [1]

Insurance in the context of total operating cost

ATRI's 2026 edition put the industry-average cost to operate a truck in 2025 at $2.336 per mile, 3.4 percent higher than the year before and the highest in the report's history. Excluding fuel, costs were $1.854 per mile. For 2024, ATRI's 2025 edition reported $2.260 per mile. [3][4]

Liability premiums have been rising

In November 2025, ATRI reported that trucking auto liability premiums rose 36 percent per mile over the past eight years, amid persistent unprofitability for insurers, even as truck crashes declined over the past four years.

In ATRI's 2025 survey of industry issues, insurance cost and availability ranked as the third-greatest issue facing trucking. Lawsuit abuse, which ATRI calls a primary contributor to rising insurance costs, ranked second. [5]

What the federal government found (2014)

When FMCSA considered raising the federal minimums in 2014, it summarized a DOT (Volpe Center) study that found comprehensive data on the premiums carriers would pay for higher coverage limits were not readily available, because underwriting is specific to each carrier and there are no uniform pricing practices.

FMCSA also cited a DOT Volpe Center study finding that insurance rates for the same level of coverage ($750,000 or $1 million) had declined slightly on average in nominal terms, hovering around $5,000 per power unit. That figure is more than ten years old. ATRI's numbers since then show premiums per mile reaching a record $0.102 in 2024 and auto liability premiums per mile rising 36 percent over the eight years before ATRI's November 2025 report. [1][2][5]

What you're required to buy

The cost question starts with the legal minimum. A for-hire interstate carrier of non-hazardous property must carry at least $750,000 in public liability coverage for vehicles of 10,001 pounds GVWR or more, or $300,000 if the whole fleet is made up of vehicles under 10,001 pounds. FMCSA doesn't require cargo insurance for general freight. Details are on trucking insurance requirements, and the coverages carriers commonly buy are explained in truck insurance types. [6][7][8]

Common questions