Most businesses running a truck over 10,000 pounds GVWR in California, hauling hazmat, or hauling anything for pay need a Motor Carrier Permit from the DMV. To get one, your insurer files a Certificate of Insurance (MC 65 M) showing at least the state minimum: $750,000 for most carriers, $300,000 if you run only vehicles under 10,000 pounds GVWR and haul no bulk petroleum or hazmat, and $1,000,000 to $5,000,000 for bulk petroleum and hazmat. You also need a USDOT number, a CA number from the CHP, and proof of workers’ comp or a signed exemption. If the insurance lapses, the permit is suspended.
Who needs a Motor Carrier Permit
In California, a motor carrier of property can’t run a commercial motor vehicle on a public highway without a Motor Carrier Permit (MCP) from the DMV. Vehicle Code 34601 decides who counts. It covers private and for-hire carriers alike.
- Any motortruck with two or more axles over 10,000 pounds GVWR, including box trucks and heavy work pickups.
- Truck tractors, trucks with three or more axles over 10,000 pounds GVWR, and truck-and-trailer combinations over 40 feet when the towing truck is over 10,000 pounds GVWR, plus commercial vehicles at 26,001 pounds or more.
- Any vehicle hauling hazardous materials, unless the load needs no placards or state hazmat or hazardous-waste transporter paperwork and the vehicle isn’t used commercially.
- Any vehicle used to haul property for pay, whatever its size. The DMV says even a courier on a motorcycle needs an MCP.
The law leaves out passenger-only carriers, household movers under their own permit, two-axle daily rental trucks under 26,001 pounds and light pickups when used noncommercially, vehicles never used commercially, and vehicles exempt from registration fees.
Minimum liability limits for MCP holders
Vehicle Code 34631.5 sets the floor, which the DMV sums up as $300,000 to $5,000,000 combined single limit:
- $750,000 for most motor carriers of property.
- $300,000 for a carrier that runs only vehicles under 10,000 pounds GVWR and hauls no bulk petroleum or hazardous materials.
- $1,200,000 for intrastate carriers of petroleum products in bulk, including waste petroleum, or split limits of $500,000 per person, $1,000,000 per accident for injuries and $200,000 property damage.
- $1,000,000 for oil and the hazardous materials, substances and wastes listed in 49 CFR 172.101, and for hazardous waste as California defines it, when the load isn’t in the $5,000,000 tier.
- $5,000,000 for hazardous substances or compressed gas in cargo tanks, portable tanks or hopper vehicles over 3,500 water gallons, and for any quantity of Division 1.1 to 1.3 explosives, poison gas (Poison A) or highway route controlled quantities of radioactive material.
The statute ties the hazmat tiers to the federal minimums in 49 CFR Part 387. The limits apply to injury and damage to others, not the freight you’re carrying. See hazmat trucking insurance requirements.
How proof gets to the DMV
Your insurance company files a Certificate of Insurance, form MC 65 M, with the DMV. The certificate applies to every vehicle that needs the permit, even if the policy doesn’t describe it, and the insurer can’t cancel it on less than 30 days’ written notice to the DMV. If the coverage lapses, the DMV suspends the permit on the date of the lapse. Reinstatement takes a new filing and a fee, which is waived if no lapse occurred.
Fleets of 25 or more commercial vehicles registered in the carrier’s name, whose required limit is no more than $750,000, can apply (form MC 130 M) for a Certificate of Self Insurance (MC 131 M) instead.
USDOT number, CA number and BIT
You get a USDOT number from FMCSA first, even if you never cross a state line, because the CHP won’t assign a CA number without one. You then send a Motor Carrier Profile (CHP 362) to a CHP Motor Carrier Safety Unit. The CA number becomes your MCP number, and it goes on both sides of the vehicle, though a valid USDOT number can be shown in its place.
Carriers running trucks with three or more axles over 10,000 pounds GVWR, truck tractors and the trailers they pull, 40-foot-plus combinations towed by a truck over 10,000 pounds GVWR, vehicles of 26,001 pounds or more, or hazmat loads needing placards or state hazmat paperwork also fall under the CHP’s Basic Inspection of Terminals (BIT) program in Vehicle Code 34501.12. A two-axle truck under 26,001 pounds that tows nothing and hauls no hazmat isn’t. Enrollment is automatic once your CA number and terminals are on file. The CHP picks terminals to inspect based on safety scores drawn from FMCSA data, and each covered vehicle needs a documented inspection at least every 90 days, with records kept for two years.
When federal minimums apply
Interstate for-hire carriers of general freight in vehicles of 10,001 pounds GVWR or more fall under 49 CFR 387.9, which sets $750,000, with higher amounts for oil and hazmat. The CHP says a carrier hauling only interstate or foreign freight doesn’t need an MCP, but once it hauls a load that stays inside California, it does. For-hire vs. not-for-hire trucking covers the federal side, and what the MCS-90 endorsement is explains the federal filing.
Movers, passenger carriers and workers’ comp
Household movers doing moves within California need a permit from the Bureau of Household Goods and Services, not an MCP. Business and Professions Code 19248 sets liability at $250,000 per person, $500,000 per accident for injuries, $100,000 for property damage and $600,000 per accident overall, plus $20,000 of cargo insurance. Passenger carriers such as charter-party carriers and passenger stage corporations have their insurance filed with the CPUC, under limits set in General Orders 115 and 101.
Workers’ comp: the DMV won’t grant an MCP until you file a workers’ comp certificate, a state certificate of consent to self-insure, or a statement under penalty of perjury that you employ no one subject to California’s comp laws. The DMV says a carrier that employs only family members still needs coverage, and a comp lapse suspends the permit the same way a liability lapse does.
Starting out? See insurance for new authorities in California and who writes new trucking authorities. For lighter work vehicles, see commercial auto insurance.
Common questions
Do I need a Motor Carrier Permit for a box truck?
If it has two or more axles and a GVWR over 10,000 pounds, yes, even if you only haul your own goods. If you’re paid to haul, you need one whatever the vehicle’s size.
What is the minimum liability for a California MCP?
$750,000 combined single limit for most carriers. It’s $300,000 if you run only vehicles under 10,000 pounds GVWR and haul no bulk petroleum or hazmat, and $1,000,000 to $5,000,000 for bulk petroleum and hazmat loads.
Who files the insurance with the DMV?
Your insurance company files a Certificate of Insurance, form MC 65 M. It can’t be cancelled on less than 30 days’ notice to the DMV, and a lapse suspends your permit.
I only haul interstate. Do I need an MCP?
According to the CHP, a carrier hauling only interstate or foreign freight doesn’t need one; for-hire interstate carriers fall under the federal minimums in 49 CFR 387.9. Once you haul a load that stays inside California, you need an MCP.
Can an owner-operator run under my MCP?
No. The CHP says every motor carrier of property needs its own permit, and Vehicle Code 34620 bars you from contracting with a carrier that lacks one. The carrier you hire has to give you a certificate that it holds a valid permit, with a copy of the permit.
Sources
- California Vehicle Code 34601: motor carrier of property definitions
- California Vehicle Code 34620: Motor Carrier Permit requirement and contracting rule
- California Vehicle Code 34630: proof of financial responsibility for an MCP
- California Vehicle Code 34631.5: minimum liability limits for motor carriers of property
- California Vehicle Code 34640: workers’ compensation filing for an MCP
- California Vehicle Code 34622: Motor Carrier Permit exemptions (registration-fee-exempt vehicles)
- California Vehicle Code 34507.5: carrier identification (CA) number
- California Vehicle Code 34500: vehicles regulated by the CHP
- California Vehicle Code 34505.5: 90-day vehicle inspections and two-year records
- California Vehicle Code 34501.12: Basic Inspection of Terminals (BIT) program
- California DMV: Motor Carrier Permits
- California DMV: Motor Carrier Permit FAQs
- CHP: Motor Carrier of Property Permit frequently asked questions (Rev. 8-23)
- CHP 800H (Rev. 10-16): Welcome to BIT, the Basic Inspection of Terminals Program
- 49 CFR 387.9 (eCFR): federal minimum levels of financial responsibility
- California Business and Professions Code 19237: household mover permit requirement
- California Business and Professions Code 19248: household mover liability and cargo insurance
- Bureau of Household Goods and Services: household moving
- CPUC: insurance requirements for passenger carriers
General information about California motor carrier insurance and permit requirements as of October 2026, not legal or tax advice; the California Vehicle Code, the DMV, the CHP and 49 CFR Part 387 control. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.