Liability insurance
Liability insurance, in this trade, is public liability for bodily injury and property damage. The federal minimum for many for-hire property carriers is 750,000 dollars. That policy is not cargo insurance on your car.
Key facts
- Nonhazardous property minimum
- 750,000 dollars at 10,001 pounds or more, for-hire, interstate
- Source: ecfr.gov
- Not cargo
- Property carriers other than household goods are not required to file cargo insurance
- Source: fmcsa.dot.gov
The sources are listed on this page.
Public liability insurance pays when the truck injures someone or damages other property. 49 CFR 387.9 sets 750,000 dollars for a for-hire carrier in interstate or foreign commerce hauling nonhazardous property in a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more. Hazardous loads on that schedule use higher figures. 49 CFR 387.313 names Form BMC-91 and Form BMC-91X as certificates for those public-liability limits. A different section, 49 CFR 387.303, is the one whose effective-date note says it was suspended indefinitely. Use the dated row on the public filing, not the form name alone.
What it does not pay
It does not pay for a dent the trailer put in your car. That is cargo insurance, a different filing. FMCSA's types-of-authority page says cargo insurance is not required for a motor carrier of property other than household goods. A sales line that blends the two is not a description of the policy. Ask which form is on file, the limit, and the effective date.
How to check
Use the Licensing and Insurance search. Read the type. Bodily injury and property damage, or liability, is this policy. Cargo is the other one. Bond is the broker's surety. RideShipper does not insure the truck or the car, and a filing checked last month is not a filing checked today.