What truck insurance do I need?

Chapter 01

What insurance does the law require for my truck?

For general freight, start with the required liability insurance. The rules call it public liability. It pays for injury, death and damage your truck causes to others, and for cleaning up a spill (the definitions). No motor carrier may run a truck until that coverage is in force (the insurance rule). The amount depends on what you haul and what the truck is rated at. The federal rules do not require coverage for your own truck or your own injuries. They require cargo coverage only from movers of household goods.

Here is how that looks in real life. Say you own one semi, a tractor you bought on a bank loan. For two years you have run it leased on to a carrier. The carrier’s name and number are on your doors, and you haul its loads. Now you want your own loads and your own rates. So this September you form an LLC and apply for your own authority. How that application works is in our guide to getting an MC number and operating authority. Before you apply, you sit down on Monday, September 21, 2026, to work out what insurance you will need on your own.

First, check the legal requirements before you start hauling. Your trailer will carry general freight: paper, food, parts. Your tractor’s weight rating is far above 10,001 pounds. So your company needs at least $750,000 of liability coverage (the minimum amounts). When owners search for semi truck insurance, this is the number the law sets. Your contracts may require a higher limit. The table below shows the federal amounts. It comes from two rules: the minimum amounts, and the amounts your insurer files with FMCSA (the filing amounts).

That money is not there to fix your truck. It is there for the people your truck might hurt. The rules make sure of it with a form added to your policy, called the MCS-90. An insurer adds forms like this to change a policy, and the rules call each one an endorsement (the definitions). The MCS-90 must carry your company’s exact name (the rule on the forms). Keep a copy at your main office. It is your proof of insurance, and you must show it to anyone who reasonably asks (the insurance rule).

Read the form carefully: it can leave you owing money to the insurer. On the current Form MCS-90, the insurer promises to pay court judgments for injury or damage to others. It pays “regardless of whether or not each motor vehicle is specifically described in the policy”. That protects the public. But the same form says it does not cover your own employees or the cargo you carry. And it says “The insured agrees to reimburse the company” for money the insurer would not have owed under your policy. In plain words, say your policy did not cover that truck or that trip. The insurer still pays the injured person, and then it sends you the bill. The MCS-90 protects the public, but it does not give you extra insurance for an uncovered loss.

With your own authority, your insurer must also file proof of liability coverage with FMCSA. Until FMCSA accepts it, no authority is issued, and existing authority cannot remain active without it (the filing rule). The filing, the MCS-90 and the certificate a broker asks for are three different papers. Our guide to insurance papers for brokers explains the difference.

The law is strict about gaps. Every new carrier faces a safety audit in its first year. Running even one day without the required coverage results in an automatic audit failure (the audit failure rule). It can also bring a fine of up to $21,114 for each day (FMCSA’s penalty table). And if the filing lapses, FMCSA revokes or suspends your authority (FMCSA’s April 2026 notice). So the liability coverage comes first. But before you buy it, check that the federal rule applies to your operations.

Chapter 02

Does the federal minimum apply to me?

It applies to two groups. The first is carriers that haul other people’s freight for pay across State lines. The second is anyone who hauls hazardous materials, including a company hauling its own (who the rule covers). It does not apply to a truck rated under 10,001 pounds, unless it hauls certain very dangerous loads. It also excludes companies hauling their own ordinary goods. For trucks that never leave one State, your State’s own rules decide.

Your semi falls in the first group. You will haul other people’s freight, for pay, across State lines. The rules call that carriage for hire: moving “the goods or property of another” for pay (the definitions). A trip can count as crossing State lines even when it starts and ends in one State. That happens when the freight came from, or goes on to, another State. Our guide to the USDOT number explains how FMCSA draws that line.

Now consider the companies outside that rule. Take a builder who hauls his own lumber and tools in his own trucks. FMCSA calls him a private carrier, which means a carrier that is not for hire (the definitions of carriers). This federal minimum does not apply to him, unless he hauls hazardous materials (who the rule covers). That does not mean he may drive uninsured. His State’s auto insurance laws still apply, and so do his lender’s terms. We did not check each State’s rules, so check with your State agency before deciding what coverage to buy.

The same goes for a truck that hauls for pay but never leaves one State, with ordinary freight that stays in that State. The federal minimum is written for interstate work and for hazardous loads (who the rule covers). Each State sets its own rules for the rest. We did not check them State by State.

Then there is weight. The rule does not apply to a vehicle rated under 10,001 pounds. The exception is a short list of very dangerous loads, such as explosives (who the rule covers). But do not read that as “light trucks need no insurance”. A company with its own authority that runs only vehicles under 10,001 pounds must still file $300,000 of liability coverage with FMCSA (the filing amounts). We come back to that with the cargo van below.

Where do you find your truck’s rating? Not on the title, and not from memory. The maker puts a label by the driver’s seat, on the door frame or the door edge (the rule on the maker’s label). The rating printed there is the gross vehicle weight rating, the most the vehicle may weigh loaded. Owners call it the GVWR, and you will see those letters on insurance forms.

What about the last two years? While you were leased on, you did not need your own federal filing at all. The carrier was the one hauling for pay under its authority, and its insurance answered to the public. That changes the day you go out on your own. So next you look at the insurance you carried as a leased owner-operator, and what must change.

Chapter 03

What changes when I leave the carrier I am leased on to?

While you are leased on, the carrier’s liability coverage protects the public on its loads. The lease must say so. It must also say who buys any other coverage for your truck, such as bobtail insurance. And it must state what the carrier charges you for coverage it buys (the leasing rules). With your own authority, the liability coverage becomes yours, filed in your company’s name. You also become responsible for the cargo. In either arrangement, you still need to consider your truck, loan terms and protection for your own injuries.

Here is what you find when you pull out your lease. Its insurance clause says the carrier keeps the liability coverage the law requires. It says you must carry bobtail insurance on your tractor. It also says you must carry coverage for your own injuries on the job. You also have a policy on the truck itself, because your bank loan requires it. That is three policies you have been paying for, and each one works differently.

Take bobtail first. The leasing rule names it but does not define it (the leasing rules). In general, insurers sell bobtail and non-trucking liability policies for a leased truck when it runs without working for the carrier. That means driving home without a load, or running a personal errand. The carrier’s policy covers its work. Your separate policy may cover personal trips, subject to its terms. The difference between bobtail and non-trucking liability depends on each policy’s wording, rather than a federal definition. Our guide to bobtail and non-trucking liability goes through the difference.

Once you run under your own authority, your own liability policy covers your operations. Do you still need bobtail coverage then? Do not guess. Ask your agent in writing whether your new liability policy covers the truck when you drive it empty, off duty or for yourself. Cancel the bobtail policy only once that answer is yes, in writing.

Next, the policy on the truck itself. Owners and agents call it physical damage coverage. It pays to repair or replace your own tractor after a crash, a fire or a theft, as the policy states. No federal rule requires it. Your bank requires it, in your loan papers. A leasing company that rents you a truck or trailer can require it the same way, in its contract. Read the insurance part of your finance papers before you change anything, because dropping the coverage can break the loan terms. Moving to your own authority does not change this policy much. It still covers the same truck.

Then there is coverage for yourself. Your lease asks for what insurers call occupational accident insurance. It pays some benefits if you are hurt on the job, as the policy lists. Owners search for it as “occupational accident insurance for owner operators”. It is not the same as workers’ compensation, the coverage employers carry for employees under State law.

We read one State’s official answer on this, North Carolina’s. Its workers’ compensation agency says occupational accident insurance “is not a lawful substitute for workers’ compensation coverage” in that State. It also warns that the policy covers only certain injuries. Benefits may be very limited under the policy terms (North Carolina’s questions and answers). The same page says North Carolina law requires workers’ compensation for certain owner-operators, even when they are independent contractors. If the owner-operator lacks it, the carrier must provide it. There is an exception for an owner-operator who holds his own U.S. DOT authority and drives the truck himself. Other States have their own rules, and we did not check them. So read your occupational accident policy for what it pays, and for what it leaves out.

The biggest change is cargo. Under federal law a carrier is liable for “the actual loss or injury to the property” it hauls (the federal law on damaged loads). While you were leased on, the carrier was the one hauling. Now you are. Motor truck cargo insurance is the policy that pays for a load lost or damaged in your care, subject to the policy terms. The law sets no minimum for it on general freight. FMCSA’s chart of filings shows cargo at $0 for everyone except household goods movers, who file $5,000 (FMCSA’s insurance filing page). Our guide to motor truck cargo insurance explains what it covers and what it leaves out.

Last, the liability itself. It must now be your own policy, in the LLC’s exact name, with an MCS-90 attached and a filing sent to FMCSA (the filing rule). Insurers call it primary auto liability. “Primary” has a plain meaning in the rules: it is the coverage that pays from the first dollar. Cover stacked on top of it is called excess (the filing amounts). The liability portion of your owner operator insurance used to be the carrier’s responsibility. Now you must arrange it. Next, check what your customers require.

Chapter 04

What will brokers, shippers and lenders ask for on top?

Whatever their contracts say. No federal rule sets what a broker or shipper may ask for. Their contracts can specify liability and cargo limits, along with other types of coverage. Amazon Relay, for example, publishes its list: $1,000,000 of auto liability, $100,000 of cargo coverage, general liability and workers’ compensation (Amazon’s Relay FAQ). A lender’s loan papers ask for physical damage coverage. Read each contract before you buy, and buy what it names.

Back to your plan. You want two kinds of work. First, loads from brokers on the load boards. Second, once your authority is 180 days old, loads from Amazon Relay, which says your MC must be active that long (Amazon’s insurance guide). Check the requirements for each type of work.

The brokers come first. Each broker sends a setup packet with its own carrier contract, and it includes the insurance requirements. We could not find any official source on what brokers usually require, so we give you no “usual” number. One broker may ask for more liability than the law. Another may specify a cargo limit, or ask to be named on your policy. Read each packet before you book a load, and send your agent the lines about insurance.

Amazon Relay publishes its list, so you read it word for word. As quoted on September 22, 2026, Amazon’s Relay FAQ asks for five things. General liability of at least $1,000,000 for each event and $2,000,000 in total. Auto liability of at least $1,000,000, including $50,000 for a trailer that is not yours. Cargo coverage of at least $100,000. Workers’ compensation where your company operates. And employer’s liability of at least $100,000. Amazon’s insurance guide of February 2026 words two of those lines more narrowly. It says the $50,000 trailer coverage is for semis, and workers’ compensation is for “Companies with W-2 employees”. The full story is in our guide to the Amazon Relay requirements.

That list brings in three types of coverage you did not need while leased on. Here they are in plain words.

General liability pays when your business hurts someone in a way that has nothing to do with driving. For example, a dock worker might trip over a strap your driver left. Your driver might also damage a dock door while handling freight. The U.S. Small Business Administration describes what it protects against. The list includes “bodily injury, property damage, medical expenses”, lawsuits and judgments (the SBA’s page on business insurance). Auto liability addresses risks from using the truck. Where one policy ends and the other begins is in the wording, so ask your agent.

Trailer interchange pays for damage to a trailer you pull but do not own. It matters when a shipper or a broker hands you its trailer, as in power only loads. The trailer comes with an agreement that says who pays if it is damaged in your care. Amazon asks semis for $50,000 of this coverage (Amazon’s insurance guide). Other programs set their own amounts. How to read that agreement is in our guide to power only loads.

Workers’ compensation pays employees hurt on the job. It is set by State law, not by FMCSA. The SBA puts it simply: “Laws requiring insurance vary by state” (the SBA’s page on business insurance). Today you drive your own truck and have no employees, so Amazon’s February guide would not ask you for it. The day you hire a driver on a W-2, ask your State and your agent what your State requires.

Your lender has different requirements. The bank wants to protect the truck that secures its loan. Your loan papers say what physical damage coverage you must keep, and whether the bank must be named on it. Your lender’s terms stay the same whether you are leased on or not. But tell the bank when you switch, because the policy may change names or insurers.

Every one of these customers checks the same way. They ask your agent for a certificate of insurance, a short summary of your policies. The company name on the certificate must exactly match your FMCSA record. How to get that right is in our guide to insurance papers for brokers. The coverage also depends on the type of truck. Consider your cousin’s fleet.

Chapter 05

Does a box truck, a hotshot or a cargo van need different insurance?

The law uses a weight threshold of 10,001 pounds, not at the kind of truck. At or above that weight rating, a company hauling general freight for pay across State lines needs $750,000 of liability coverage. A company whose vehicles are all rated below that weight files $300,000 (the filing amounts). The rest depends on what the truck does and what its customers ask. A box truck pulls no trailer. A hotshot pulls its own. A cargo van can be shut out of some programs.

Now consider a different type of fleet. Say your cousin runs a small company with one box truck that is 26 feet long. His door label shows a rating well over 10,001 pounds. This fall he wants to add a cargo van for small, fast loads. He asks you what box truck insurance he needs, and whether the van changes it.

For the box truck, the law says the same as for your semi. It is rated at 10,001 pounds or more and hauls general freight for pay across State lines, so the minimum is $750,000 (the minimum amounts). His cargo, his customers and his lender decide the rest, just as yours do. One difference: a box truck pulls no trailer. That is why Amazon’s February guide asks only semis for trailer coverage (Amazon’s insurance guide). Amazon’s FAQ states that requirement without distinguishing between vehicle types, and our Amazon Relay guide explains how to ask which version applies.

For the van, the answer depends on the whole fleet. The $300,000 filing is for a fleet made up only of vehicles under 10,001 pounds (the filing amounts). Your cousin’s fleet also includes the box truck. So the company’s minimum stays at $750,000, and adding the van does not lower it. If he ever sold the box truck and kept only the van, the filing could drop to $300,000. Our guide to loads for trucks that need no CDL covers that kind of fleet. Amazon Relay does not accept cargo vans: Amazon says “Cargo vans cannot be used for loads on Amazon Relay” (Amazon’s truck requirements).

A hotshot owner faces another question. A friend runs hotshot: a heavy pickup with a gooseneck trailer. People search for “hotshot insurance” as if it were its own product. The law does not treat it that way. The liability minimum turns on the weight rating, and the rules define that as the rating of “a single motor vehicle” (the definitions). If his pickup’s own label shows 10,001 pounds or more, the $750,000 minimum applies. It does not matter what the trailer weighs.

What if the pickup alone is rated under 10,001 pounds but pulls a heavy trailer? We could not verify the minimum for that combination. We found no FMCSA statement on how the insurance minimum treats that pairing. For the USDOT number, FMCSA does count the truck and trailer together, as our USDOT guide explains. So ask your agent and FMCSA in writing before you file for less than $750,000. Your friend owns his trailer, so he also asks his agent about physical damage coverage for the trailer, not just the pickup.

Back to you. Your semi, your cousin’s box truck and your friend’s hotshot share the same core: liability that meets the law and is filed with FMCSA. Beyond that, check the requirements in each contract. Then list the policies you need.

Chapter 06

How do I put my insurance together, and what has changed?

Arrange your insurance in three steps. First, the liability coverage the law requires, in your company’s exact name, filed with FMCSA before your authority can go active (the filing rule). Second, the types of coverage your contracts require: cargo, general liability, trailer interchange, physical damage. Third, the coverage that protects you, such as occupational accident. Get every answer from your agent in writing. Then review all your policies each time a truck, a driver, a name or a customer changes.

Here is how you do it. On Tuesday, September 22, you send your agent one email. You give the LLC’s legal name letter for letter, the tractor’s VIN and its weight rating from the door label. You say what you will haul, and that you will haul for pay across State lines. You attach the insurance requirements from two broker packets and from Amazon’s list. Then you ask for quotes in the LLC’s name. You want primary liability with the MCS-90, cargo coverage and general liability. You want physical damage coverage with the bank named, as the loan papers ask. You ask whether trailer interchange is needed for the power only loads you might take. And you ask one question about bobtail: does the new liability policy cover the truck off duty?

What it will cost is a different question, and it is in our guide to what truck insurance costs. This page does not quote prices.

Coordinate the start and end dates carefully. Your lease must say when it ends (the leasing rules). Your own liability must be in force and filed before your first load on your own authority. Do not cancel the carrier’s arrangement, or your bobtail and occupational accident policies, until the replacement coverage is in force. Say FMCSA publishes your application on Monday, October 5. Your insurer files your proof of insurance on Thursday, October 8. Your authority goes active on Monday, October 26. Your lease ends on Friday, October 30, and you haul your first load on Monday, November 2. Each new policy starts before the old one ends, so no day is left without coverage.

Once you start hauling, keep all required policies active. Your insurer must give 35 days’ written notice before it cancels your policy (the insurance rule). If a notice arrives, act on day one. Our guide to a cancelled or lapsed policy walks through it. After a crash or a cargo loss, read our guide to insurance claims and renewal. It shows how to keep the claim file, and why it matters at renewal time. And when you grow and lease owner-operators onto your own authority, you write that insurance clause yourself. Our guide to leasing an owner-operator shows what it must say.

Some things have changed this year. In April 2026, FMCSA said insurers would send and remove filings in Motus, its new registration system. It also said the old Licensing and Insurance system would be retired (FMCSA’s April 2026 notice). Yet FMCSA’s own page on insurance filings was updated in March 2026. It says insurers keep using the old system until Motus opens to all users in 2026 (FMCSA’s insurance filing page). So a guide that sends you to the old screens to check your filing may be out of date. We cannot tell you which site shows your filing today, so ask your agent. Amazon also described some insurance requirements more narrowly in February 2026 than in its FAQ, so older summaries of its list may not match.

There is also what we could not check. No federal rule defines physical damage, bobtail, non-trucking liability, occupational accident, general liability or trailer interchange coverage. Each policy defines them in its own wording. We found no official source on what brokers usually require. We did not check each State’s own insurance and workers’ compensation rules. And we found no FMCSA answer for a light pickup pulling a heavy trailer. For each of these, check the policy, the contract and State rules, and ask your agent to clarify in writing.

The core does not change: liability first, filed and in your exact name. After that, buy what your contracts name and what protects you. If you want someone to keep your policies consistent with your trucks, contracts and FMCSA record all year, here is what we offer.