If your truck is leased to a motor carrier, 49 CFR Part 376 requires a written lease that gives the carrier exclusive possession, control and use of the equipment and states its legal obligation to carry liability insurance for the public. The same paragraph makes the lease say who provides any other insurance, bobtail included, and the amount of any charge-back for it. In my experience a leased owner-operator ends up buying non-trucking liability for the time the truck isn’t hauling for the carrier, physical damage on the tractor, an occupational accident policy where workers’ comp doesn’t reach them, and sometimes trailer interchange. Under your own authority, the liability minimums in Part 387, the MCS-90 endorsement and the BMC-91 or BMC-91X filing are yours, and the shippers and brokers you haul for will ask for cargo coverage on top.
Leased to a carrier: what the lease has to say
Federal leasing rules in 49 CFR Part 376 say an authorized carrier may haul in equipment it doesn’t own only under a written lease that meets 376.12. Under 376.12(c)(1), the lease must give the carrier exclusive possession, control and use of the equipment for the term of the lease and complete responsibility for its operation. Paragraph (c)(4) says that language doesn’t decide whether you are an independent contractor or an employee.
The insurance paragraph, 376.12(j)(1), does three things. It makes the lease state the carrier’s legal obligation to maintain insurance for the protection of the public under 49 U.S.C. 13906. It makes the lease say who provides any other insurance on the leased equipment, and bobtail insurance is the regulation’s own example. And if the carrier will charge you back for any of that insurance, the lease has to state the amount.
What a leased owner-operator buys on their own
- Non-trucking liability. While you haul for the carrier, you depend on its liability policy. IRMI defines bobtail liability, a synonym for non-trucking liability, as auto liability for an owner-operator after a load has been delivered and while the truck is not being used for trucking purposes, written with the CA 23 09 non-trucking-use endorsement. How non-trucking liability and bobtail differ.
- Physical damage. Liability is for what you do to others. Physical damage insurance is the coverage for your own vehicle, for perils such as collision, fire, theft and vandalism. Your lease or your lender may require it.
- Occupational accident. Workers’ compensation is state law, and whether a leased owner-operator falls under the carrier’s policy varies by state. Kansas, for example, keeps an owner-operator who is the exclusive driver of a single truck leased to a carrier outside the carrier’s workers’ comp if covered by an occupational accident policy and not treated as an employee for federal tax purposes; the carrier may instead buy workers’ comp for them and charge back the premium. Occupational accident vs. workers’ comp for truckers.
- Trailer interchange. If you pull trailers owned by others under an interchange agreement, trailer interchange insurance, CA 23 98, is written to cover your legal liability for damage to those trailers. What trailer interchange insurance is.
Charge-backs: what the carrier can deduct, and what it must show you
Part 376 doesn’t list allowed charge-backs. It sets disclosure rules. Under 376.12(h), the lease must state every item the carrier initially pays but later deducts from your settlement, with a recitation of how each amount is computed, and you must get copies of the documents needed to check a charge. Under 376.12(e), the lease must also say which party pays for fuel, fuel taxes, empty mileage, permits, tolls, ferries, detention and base plates.
Three more protections. The carrier cannot require you to buy or rent products, equipment or services from it as a condition of the lease, under 376.12(i). If you do buy insurance through the carrier, 376.12(j)(2) entitles you to a copy of each policy on request and a certificate of insurance for each one showing the insurer, policy number, effective dates, amounts and types of coverage, your cost for each type and the deductible you may be liable for. And under 376.12(j)(3), the lease must state when cargo or property damage deductions can be made, and the carrier must deliver a written explanation and itemization before making one.
Running under your own authority
Once the MC number is yours, you are the motor carrier, and under 49 CFR 387.7(a) you can’t operate until the 387.9 minimum financial responsibility is in effect. For nonhazardous property in vehicles of 10,001 pounds GVWR or more, that minimum is $750,000. Oil and hazardous materials outside the top class raise it to $1,000,000, and the highest-hazard loads, such as bulk explosives, to $5,000,000. Under 387.3(c), those rules do not reach vehicles under 10,001 pounds GVWR unless they haul the high-hazard materials, though the filing rules still set $300,000 for a for-hire fleet of lighter vehicles hauling nonhazardous property.
Proof is the MCS-90 endorsement on your liability policy, or an MCS-82 surety bond, kept at your principal place of business. Your insurer files the certificate with FMCSA: Form BMC-91 for the full limits, or BMC-91X, which can represent full coverage or any level of aggregation. A filing cannot be cancelled until 30 days after written notice is submitted to FMCSA. Those filing rules are 387.303T, 387.313T and 387.323T, the text in force while the unlettered sections stay suspended. What the MCS-90 endorsement is, what a BMC-91X filing is, and how MC authority is granted.
Cargo and the rest of the stack
FMCSA eliminated the cargo insurance filing requirement for most for-hire motor carriers of property and freight forwarders in a final rule effective March 21, 2011. Household goods carriers still maintain and file it: under 387.303T(c), $5,000 for household goods on any one vehicle and $10,000 for losses at any one time and place, certified on Form BMC-34. For general freight, cargo coverage is a contract matter. FMCSA said in that rule it expected most carriers to keep cargo insurance because customers require it; the broker and shipper contracts you sign set the limit and ask for a certificate before the first load.
Beyond that, the stack mirrors the leased one: physical damage on tractor and trailer, general liability when a contract requires it, and occupational accident or workers’ comp depending on your state and whether you have drivers. The trucking insurance page covers each line, and the by-state hub covers state differences.
Common questions
Does the carrier’s insurance cover my truck while I’m leased on?
The lease has to state the carrier’s obligation to carry insurance for the protection of the public, which is liability coverage for injury and damage to others. It is not coverage for your tractor. Physical damage on your own equipment, like any other coverage, goes to whoever the lease names under 376.12(j)(1).
Can the carrier make me buy insurance through them?
No. 49 CFR 376.12(i) requires the lease to say you are not required to buy or rent products, equipment or services from the carrier as a condition of the lease. If you choose to buy through them, 376.12(j)(2) entitles you to a copy of each policy on request and a certificate showing the cost and deductible for each coverage.
What liability limit do I need under my own authority?
The federal minimum in 49 CFR 387.9 is $750,000 for nonhazardous property in vehicles of 10,001 pounds GVWR or more, $1,000,000 for oil and hazardous materials outside the highest class, and $5,000,000 for the highest-hazard loads. Broker and shipper contracts can set a higher figure.
Do I have to file cargo insurance with FMCSA?
Not for general freight; FMCSA ended that filing for most for-hire property carriers effective March 21, 2011. Household goods carriers still file $5,000 per vehicle and $10,000 for losses at any one time and place. Shippers and brokers still ask for cargo coverage in their contracts.
Is occupational accident the same as workers’ comp?
No. It is an accident policy that pays the benefits its own terms set, such as accident medical, disability income and accidental death and dismemberment, sold to drivers who are not required by law to carry workers’ compensation. Whether a leased owner-operator can rely on it instead of workers’ comp depends on state law; Kansas, for example, treats an owner-operator covered by one as outside the carrier’s workers’ comp.
Sources
- 49 CFR Part 376 (eCFR): lease and interchange of vehicles, 376.2, 376.11 and 376.12
- 49 CFR 376.12 (Cornell LII): lease requirements, paragraphs (c), (e), (h), (i) and (j)
- 49 CFR Part 387 (eCFR): minimum levels of financial responsibility, including 387.3, 387.7, 387.9 and the 387.303T, 387.313T and 387.323T filing rules
- 49 CFR 387.7 (Cornell LII): financial responsibility required; MCS-90 and MCS-82 proof
- 49 CFR 387.9 (Cornell LII): schedule of limits for public liability
- 49 CFR 387.303 (Cornell LII): security minimum limits, including $300,000 for light fleets and household goods cargo amounts (same text as 387.303T)
- 49 CFR 387.313 (Cornell LII): forms BMC-91, BMC-91X, BMC-34 and the 30-day cancellation notice (same text as 387.313T)
- 49 CFR 387.323 (Cornell LII): insurers file BMC-91 and BMC-91X certificates electronically
- Federal Register, 75 FR 35318 (June 22, 2010): Cargo Insurance for Property Loss or Damage, final rule
- K.S.A. 44-503c: employment status of an owner-operator of a motor vehicle
- U.S. Department of Labor: workers’ compensation (state boards for private employment)
- OOIDA: occupational accident plan eligibility and benefits
- IRMI: bobtail liability (non-trucking use, CA 23 09)
- IRMI: trailer interchange insurance (CA 23 98)
- IRMI: automobile physical damage insurance
- IRMI: occupational accident insurance
General information about owner-operator insurance under the federal leasing and financial-responsibility rules as of October 2026, not legal or tax advice; 49 CFR Parts 376 and 387, your lease and your state’s workers’ compensation law control. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.