Truck Insurance Motor
Carrier Authority Questions

Common carriers provide for-hire transportation to the general public and are required by law to obtain both liability and cargo insurance. Contract carriers provide for-hire transportation to individual shipper, based on contacts. They are required to only file liability insurance.

Freight broker are required to file either a surety bond or a trust fund agreement.

It costs $300 to obtain authority although separate filing fees must be submitted with the application at the time of processing.

Intrastate authority is required for travel only within the boundaries of a single state. Interstate authority is required for any type of transportation or commerce activity beyond state lines. If you are a transportation provider and cross state lines then you are required to obtain interstate authority. There are specific state requirements for intrastate authority and activity.

Cargo insurance provides liability insurance for trucking companies in the event that cargo is lost, stolen, or destroyed. It is considered the primary cargo coverage while contingent cargo often secured by freight brokers, logistics providers, 3PL’s, or importer’s/exporter’s to provide contingent coverage in the event of a loss by the trucking company where the primary insurance fails to pay a claim within the terms of a policy.

Companies that operate commercial vehicles transporting passengers or cargo must be registered with the FMCSA and have a US DOT number. The DOT number serves as a unique identifier when collecting and monitoring a company’s safety information acquired during audits, compliance reviews, crash investigations, and inspections.

See our Coverage page for a list of states we offer trucking insurance.