Truck insurance
Types of Truck Insurance
A trucking company does not buy one policy; it buys a stack. FMCSA requires liability coverage on file before it activates your authority, and a cargo filing only from household goods movers. Brokers force cargo coverage by contract, lenders force physical damage, and leases force bobtail or non-trucking liability. This page defines each one and names who makes you buy it.
By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Jul 21, 2026
Who forces each purchase
The fastest way to sort the stack is by who demands the coverage. Every row renders from the sourced taxonomy record:
| Coverage | Who makes you buy it |
|---|---|
| Primary liability (BIPD) | FMCSA filing |
| Motor truck cargo | Shipper or broker contract |
| Physical damage (comprehensive and collision) | Lender or lessor |
| Bobtail insurance | Carrier lease agreement |
| Non-trucking liability | Carrier lease agreement |
| Trailer interchange | Shipper or broker contract |
| Truckers general liability | Shipper or broker contract |
| Occupational accident | Optional |
| Garagekeepers legal liability | Optional |
What the whole stack costs, and the only published premium averages that exist, are on what commercial truck insurance costs.
The coverage types
Primary liability (BIPD)
Insurance against loss from your legal liability for bodily injury or property damage to another party, including cargo spill cleanup, while you operate under your authority.
Who needs it: Every for-hire carrier operating under its own authority. FMCSA will not activate the authority until an insurer files proof of this coverage on the carrier's docket.
Motor truck cargo
Coverage that protects the goods and materials a for-hire trucker hauls, paying for cargo lost or damaged in accidents, fire, theft, or vandalism, plus debris removal and some undelivered-freight charges.
Who needs it: Carriers hauling freight for customers. A federal cargo filing applies only to household goods carriers; for everything else, brokers and shippers demand cargo coverage by contract before they tender a load.
Physical damage (comprehensive and collision)
Coverage for the truck itself: collision pays when the vehicle hits another vehicle or object, and comprehensive pays for damage from something other than a collision, such as fire, theft, vandalism, windstorm, or animal strikes.
Who needs it: Any carrier that cannot absorb the loss of its truck. A lender or lessor will usually require it on a financed or leased vehicle; on a paid-off truck it is optional.
Bobtail insurance
Liability coverage that applies when the tractor is driven without a trailer for a business purpose, such as running back after a drop.
Who needs it: Owner-operators who drive the tractor between loads without a trailer attached, most often drivers leased to a motor carrier whose primary policy covers only dispatched work.
Non-trucking liability
Liability protection for an owner-operator under a permanent lease to a motor carrier when the truck is used for personal, non-business purposes off dispatch. It differs from bobtail coverage, which turns on whether a trailer is attached rather than on the purpose of the trip.
Who needs it: Leased owner-operators. Motor carriers often require leased contractors to carry it because the carrier's primary liability policy excludes personal use of the truck.
Trailer interchange
Coverage for damage to trailers you pull under a trailer interchange agreement while they are in your care but owned by someone else.
Who needs it: Carriers and owner-operators who haul other parties' trailers, such as drop-and-hook and port or rail interchange work.
Truckers general liability
Coverage for injuries or property damage that arise from business activity away from the truck, such as load-site accidents or errors in delivery, rather than from driving.
Who needs it: Carriers whose customers or facilities require proof of general liability alongside the auto liability policy; some shipper and warehouse contracts ask for it.
Occupational accident
A policy that pays medical expense, disability income, and accidental death and dismemberment benefits when a work-related injury happens. It is not workers compensation, and it pays no benefit where workers compensation law applies.
Who needs it: Independent owner-operators under dispatch who are not required by law to carry workers compensation and would otherwise have no wage or medical safety net after an injury.
Garagekeepers legal liability
Protection when a customer's vehicle in your care is damaged by fire, theft, vandalism, or collision while stored or serviced at your business location.
Who needs it: Tow operators and service stations that store customers' vehicles; it rides alongside the towing operation's liability and on-hook coverage.
Shorter reference definitions live in the glossary, starting with cargo insurance, defined.
Filed with FMCSA vs demanded by contract
Only the liability coverage travels to FMCSA as a formal filing, and you cannot send it yourself: A financial responsibility provider (insurance or surety company) must file the required forms on the applicant's behalf. Applicants may not file insurance forms for themselves.
The filing forms, the liability floor for each commodity type, and the MCS-90 endorsement are covered in the BMC-91 and BMC-34 filing guide. Everything else in the stack never touches FMCSA; it lives in your broker packets, your loan agreement, and your lease.
State insurance requirements
Intrastate carriers answer to their state's own liability minimums and filing forms instead of the federal table. The sourced breakdown for each covered state:
Frequently asked questions
What insurance does a trucking company need to get authority?
- Insurance against loss from your legal liability for bodily injury or property damage to another party, including cargo spill cleanup, while you operate under your authority. Every for-hire carrier operating under its own authority. FMCSA will not activate the authority until an insurer files proof of this coverage on the carrier's docket. Beyond that filing (and a federal cargo filing that applies only to household goods carriers), the buyer of every other coverage on this page is a contract, a lender, or a lease rather than FMCSA.
What is bobtail insurance?
- Liability coverage that applies when the tractor is driven without a trailer for a business purpose, such as running back after a drop. Owner-operators who drive the tractor between loads without a trailer attached, most often drivers leased to a motor carrier whose primary policy covers only dispatched work.
What is the difference between bobtail and non-trucking liability?
- Liability protection for an owner-operator under a permanent lease to a motor carrier when the truck is used for personal, non-business purposes off dispatch. It differs from bobtail coverage, which turns on whether a trailer is attached rather than on the purpose of the trip.
Is cargo insurance required by law?
- Carriers hauling freight for customers. A federal cargo filing applies only to household goods carriers; for everything else, brokers and shippers demand cargo coverage by contract before they tender a load.
Is occupational accident insurance the same as workers compensation?
- No. A policy that pays medical expense, disability income, and accidental death and dismemberment benefits when a work-related injury happens. It is not workers compensation, and it pays no benefit where workers compensation law applies. Independent owner-operators under dispatch who are not required by law to carry workers compensation and would otherwise have no wage or medical safety net after an injury.
Sources
Primary statutes and official agency pages this guide relies on. Laws and fees change, so confirm against the current source before you act.
- For Owner-Operators with Authority · Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA)
- Truck Insurance · Progressive Commercial
- Motor Truck Cargo Insurance · Progressive Commercial
- Non-Trucking Liability Insurance · Progressive Commercial
- Comprehensive Coverage · Progressive Commercial
- Garagekeepers Legal Liability Insurance · Progressive Commercial
- Occupational Accident Insurance · Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA)
- Insurance Filing Requirements · Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), U.S. DOT
Haul Handbook publishes educational information about trucking registration and compliance requirements. This is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Rules, fees, and deadlines change; confirm with the agency before you file or pay.