Truck insurance coverage, explained
Get all the insurance you need to keep rolling. Here are the 13 coverages we place for owner-operators and fleets: what each one pays for, and who needs it.
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Where most truckers start
Four coverages come up on almost every trucking policy, and each one answers to someone: your authority, your customers, your lender or your lease.
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Primary liability insurance
Your authority depends on it: at least $750,000 for most for-hire interstate carriers, and $1 million to $5 million for hazardous materials.
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Motor truck cargo insurance
Most brokers and shippers want to see it before they give you a load, usually $100,000 or more.
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Physical damage insurance
Repairs or replaces your rig after a crash, theft, fire or bad weather. Lenders and lessors usually require it.
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Non-trucking liability insurance
Leased owner-operators usually need it, or bobtail, for the driving the carrier’s policy doesn’t cover. Your lease says which.
Liability insurance for truckers
Protects you when your truck or your business causes harm to others.
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Primary liability insurance
Pays for injuries and property damage you cause to others in an accident with your truck. It’s the coverage your operating authority depends on: at least $750,000 for most for-hire interstate carriers, and $1 million to $5 million for hazardous materials.
Who needs it: Every motor carrier and owner-operator running under their own authority.
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General liability insurance
Covers claims that don’t involve driving: someone hurt at your yard or at a customer’s dock, damage to a customer’s property while you load or unload, and advertising injury.
Who needs it: Carriers who work on customers’ premises, or whose contracts ask for it.
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Hired & non-owned auto insurance
Liability for vehicles your business rents, leases or borrows, and for employees who use their own cars on company business.
Who needs it: Fleets that rent trucks or have staff running errands in personal vehicles.
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Umbrella & excess insurance
Adds limits on top of your primary liability and general liability, for severe claims and for shippers or brokers that require higher limits.
Who needs it: Carriers with higher-value contracts, hazmat haulers and growing fleets.
Coverage for your truck, trailer and cargo
Pays to repair or replace your equipment and the freight you haul.
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Physical damage insurance
Repairs or replaces your own tractor and trailer after a collision, and after theft, fire, vandalism, hail or flood.
Who needs it: Owner-operators and fleets with valuable equipment. Lenders and lessors usually require it.
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Motor truck cargo insurance
Covers the freight in your care when it’s damaged or lost because of a covered accident, fire or theft.
Who needs it: For-hire carriers. Most brokers and shippers ask for $100,000 or more.
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Reefer breakdown insurance
Covers spoiled temperature-controlled freight when your refrigeration unit breaks down. It’s usually added to motor truck cargo.
Who needs it: Reefer haulers moving food, produce, pharmaceuticals and other temperature-sensitive loads.
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Trailer interchange insurance
Covers physical damage to a trailer you don’t own while it’s in your care under a written trailer interchange agreement.
Who needs it: Intermodal and drop-and-hook carriers pulling other companies’ trailers.
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Non-owned trailer insurance
Physical damage coverage for trailers you pull but don’t own, when there’s no written interchange agreement.
Who needs it: Carriers who borrow or rent trailers informally.
Coverage for gaps and special operations
Closes the gaps between policies and covers specialised work.
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Non-trucking liability insurance
Liability for a leased owner-operator driving for personal use, off dispatch, when the motor carrier’s policy doesn’t respond.
Who needs it: Owner-operators leased to a motor carrier. The lease agreement often requires it.
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Bobtail insurance
Liability when you drive your tractor without a trailer attached, for example heading to pick up a load or coming back from a delivery.
Who needs it: Leased owner-operators. Your lease tells you whether you need bobtail or non-trucking liability.
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Uninsured motorist insurance
Pays for your injuries and damage when the at-fault driver has no insurance, or not enough to cover your losses.
Who needs it: Every driver. Many states require it, or require you to turn it down in writing.
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Intermodal insurance
A coverage package for drayage between ports, rail yards and warehouses, including the trailer interchange coverage the UIIA requires.
Who needs it: Drayage carriers pulling containers and chassis.
Coverage by truck type
Every rig runs its own risks. See what each one hauls, what can go wrong and the coverage most operators carry.
- Flatbed truck insurance
- Dump truck insurance
- Auto hauler insurance
- Fuel & gas hauler insurance
- Liquid waste & hazmat hauler insurance
- Hot shot trucking insurance
- Intermodal drayage insurance
- Log truck insurance
- Moving & storage insurance
- Tow truck insurance
Truck insurance coverage questions
Don’t see your question? Call us at (888) 353-2953
What insurance do I need to get my authority active?
Primary liability at the federal minimum for what you haul: $750,000 for most for-hire carriers of general freight, and $1 million to $5 million for oil and hazardous materials. Your insurer files proof of coverage with the FMCSA so your authority can go active.
Is cargo insurance required?
Federal rules require it only for household goods movers, but most brokers and shippers ask for it before they give you a load, usually $100,000 or more.
Do I need bobtail or non-trucking liability?
Only if you’re an owner-operator leased to a motor carrier. The carrier’s policy covers you under its dispatch, and one of these covers the rest of your driving. Your lease says which one you need.
What’s the difference between trailer interchange and non-owned trailer coverage?
Both pay for damage to a trailer you don’t own. Trailer interchange applies when you pull it under a written interchange agreement, as in intermodal and drop-and-hook work; non-owned trailer coverage applies when there’s no written agreement.
Can I get all my coverage in one place?
Yes. We place every coverage on this page and compare 100+ A-rated carriers, so your liability, cargo and physical damage can be quoted together.
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