Cai blog

What insurance do you need to start a trucking company?

Cai Insurance Team — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 21:04:38 GMT

Starting a trucking company means a lot of boxes to check at once: authority, equipment, drivers, lanes. Insurance is one of the first, and it's not optional. You can't legally haul freight for hire without it.

Here's exactly what you need to get your fleet rolling.

First: Get your operating authority

Before any insurance carrier will give you a policy, you need two things from the FMCSA: a USDOT number and an MC number.

You can apply at the FMCSA's registration portal at fmcsa.dot.gov. Once your MC number is issued, you can start the insurance process.

The three coverages you need on day one

Auto Liability (required by federal law)

If one of your trucks causes an accident, Auto Liability pays for the other person's medical bills, vehicle repairs, and legal costs if they sue you. You can't legally operate without it.

How much coverage do you need? The federal minimum for general freight is $750,000, but most brokers and shippers won’t work with you unless you have at least $1,000,000.

Once you purchase coverage, your insurer files a form with the FMCSA confirming you're insured. That filing is required to activate your authority. No filing, no authority.

Cargo (required by most brokers)

If the freight you're hauling gets damaged, stolen, or lost while it's in your hands, Cargo Insurance pays for it. Technically, federal law doesn’t require you to have it, but most freight brokers won't work with you unless you have it.

How much coverage do you need? $100,000 per load is the standard starting point. If you plan to haul high-value goods, you may need more.

Before you buy: Cargo policies have exclusions. Some don't cover temperature-sensitive freight, certain commodities, or specific causes of damage. Know what your policy covers before you take a load.

Physical Damage (required if you're financing your trucks)

Physical Damage covers your trucks themselves: collision, theft, fire, vandalism. If you're financing your trucks, your lender will require it before you can take possession. And even if you own your trucks outright, going without it means any damage to your equipment comes out of your own pocket.

How much coverage do you need? Your coverage limit should reflect the actual value of your trucks. If you're not sure what your trucks are worth today, your broker can help you figure out the right number. Make sure to update it as your fleet changes, too. If you add a truck, sell or retire a truck, or make major modifications like adding a reefer unit or specialized body, let your insurance broker know.

Other coverage you might need

General Liability

This covers accidents that happen off the truck while your drivers are still on the job: slips and falls at a shipper's dock, property damage during loading and unloading, that kind of thing. Auto Liability doesn't cover those situations because the vehicle isn't involved.

More and more brokers require General Liability in their carrier agreements. If you don't have it, some shippers simply won't work with you.

How much coverage do you need? $1,000,000 limit per incident is the standard. Many contracts also require a $2,000,000 annual total.

Occupational Accident

If owner-operators run under your authority, most contracts require you to provide Occupational Accident coverage. It pays for a driver's medical bills and lost wages if they're hurt on the job. It’s similar to workers' comp, but built specifically for the trucking industry.

Non-Trucking Liability

For owner-operators, Non-Trucking Liability (NTL) covers use of the truck for personal use, like driving home, running errands, or anything outside of an active load. Auto Liability only applies when the truck is working: driving to a pickup, hauling a load, or returning from a drop-off. So without Non-Trucking Liability, owner-operators are uninsured if they use the truck outside of work. (NTL is not common for company driver fleets, which typically don’t allow personal use of company trucks.)

How much does insurance cost for new fleets?

New fleet insurance typically costs more than renewals. Insurance carriers don’t have a history of your fleet’s past performance to work from, so they price you based on the limited information they have.

What drives your rate:

Driver records: Insurance carriers will pull the driving history (MVR) for every driver you list on the policy.
Equipment: Equipment age and value both affect your rate.
What you haul: Some commodities cost more to insure than others.
Where you operate: Regional hauls typically cost less than long-haul.
Where trucks are parked overnight: Your garaging location matters more than most people expect. Insurers look at where your trucks are parked overnight to assess theft risk, weather exposure, and local accident rates.

For a single truck with Auto Liability, Cargo Insurance, and Physical Damage, most new operators pay somewhere between $10,000 and $20,000+ per year. But rates vary significantly based on your drivers, your equipment, and where you operate.

How to get covered

Get your MC number from the FMCSA
Pull the driving history for every driver you plan to list on the policy
Collect the VIN, year, make, model, and current value for each truck
Decide what you'll haul and where you'll operate
Work with a broker to get quotes from multiple insurance carriers
Purchase coverage and have your broker file the insurance confirmation with the FMCSA
Receive your certificate of insurance (COI). You'll need this for every broker agreement you sign.

The FMCSA typically processes the insurance filing within a few days. Your authority becomes active once it's confirmed.

Mistakes new fleets make

Buying the minimum and calling it done. Legal minimums are there to protect the public, not to protect your business. They make sure that if you cause an accident, the other person can get paid for damage and medical expenses.

Not listing all drivers. Every driver operating under your authority needs to be on the policy. If someone isn't listed and they're in an accident, you may not be covered. Reach out to your broker for help adding drivers to your policy.

Skipping cargo coverage to cut costs. One damaged load can cost more than a full year of cargo premiums.

Not shopping around. Rates vary significantly across carriers, especially for new fleets. Work with a broker like Cai who can get you competitive quotes from across their carrier network.

The bottom line

Getting your coverage right from the start sets the foundation for everything else. The requirements aren't complicated, but the details matter.

The Cai Insurance team is always happy to help you figure out what coverage makes sense for your fleet. Give us a call at (770) 765-0331 for a free, no-obligation quote.

Frequently asked questions

What insurance do you need to start a trucking company? At minimum, you need Auto Liability to satisfy federal law and activate your authority. Most brokers will also require Cargo Insurance before they dispatch loads to you. And if you're financing your trucks, your lender will require Physical Damage coverage, too. General Liability is increasingly required by brokers and shippers as well.

How much does insurance cost for a new trucking company? For a single-truck operation with clean drivers and standard freight, expect to pay at least $10,000–$20,000+ per year for Auto Liability, Cargo, and Physical Damage. Rates will vary based on factors like your drivers' records, what you haul, and where you operate.

Can I get my authority and then get insurance? No. The FMCSA requires proof of insurance before your authority becomes active. Your insurer files a confirmation directly with the FMCSA, and your authority doesn't go live until that filing is processed.

Before starting Cai, our team started our own fleet. We know how important it is to get coverage fast, so you can get moving (and earning). Give us a call at (770) 765-0331 to get competitive quotes from across our carrier network.

How does your CSA score affect your trucking insurance?

Cai Insurance Team — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 20:36:46 GMT

If you've shopped for trucking insurance recently, you've probably heard insurance carriers ask about your CSA score. A high score can mean higher premiums, fewer coverage options, or getting turned down altogether.

One thing worth knowing upfront: there's no single CSA score for your fleet. The FMCSA tracks violations in a few different categories — like unsafe driving and vehicle maintenance — and compares you against other fleets around your size. What matters is how you stack up against your peers, not a fixed number.

Here's what your CSA score actually is, how it's built, how it affects your premiums, and what you can do to improve it.

What’s a CSA score?

CSA stands for Compliance, Safety, Accountability. It's a program run by the FMCSA to track how safely trucking companies operate.

Think of it like a report card for your fleet. Every roadside inspection, violation, and crash gets logged. The worse your record, the higher your score. A high score signals risk to regulators, shippers, and the insurance carriers pricing your policy.

What gets tracked

The FMCSA organizes violations into seven categories:

Unsafe Driving: Speeding, reckless driving, distracted driving, improper lane changes
Hours of Service: Driving too many hours, logbook violations, falsified records
Driver Fitness: Drivers with expired CDLs, missing medical certificates, or not qualified to operate the vehicle
Controlled Substances and Alcohol: Drug and alcohol violations
Vehicle Maintenance: Bad brakes, worn tires, broken lights, vehicles pulled out of service during an inspection
Hazardous Materials: Improper handling or labeling (this one only applies if you haul hazmat)
Crash History: How often your trucks are involved in accidents, and how serious those accidents are

How is a CSA score calculated?

Each of the seven categories has its own score. For each category, the FMCSA compares your fleet’s violations to other fleets around the same size as yours.

Not every violation counts the same. The FMCSA weighs them two ways:

How serious it is: Going 20 mph over the limit adds more points than going 5 over.
How recent it is: Violations from the past six months count the most. Anything older than two years drops off entirely.

Your score isn't fixed, which means you can improve it. (You can also make it worse with more violations.)

One important thing to understand: your CSA score isn't the number of points your fleet accumulates. It's a percentile. A score of 70 doesn't mean you got 70 out of 100 — it means your fleet had more violations than 70% of similarly-sized carriers. Lower is always better.

Example

Say you run a fleet of four trucks. Over the past year, two of your drivers picked up speeding tickets.

Driver A was clocked at 13 mph over the limit two months ago. That violation has a severity weight of 7. Because it happened within the last six months, it gets multiplied by 3 for recency. 7 × 3 = 21 points
Driver B was clocked at 17 mph over the limit eight months ago. That violation has a severity weight of 10. Because it happened 7–12 months ago, it gets multiplied by 2 for recency. 10 × 2 = 20 points
That gives you 41 points in the Unsafe Driving category. But 41 points isn't your Unsafe Driving score.
FMCSA takes those 41 points and compares them against every other four-truck fleet. Just as an example, let’s say the average 4-truck fleet has around 15 Unsafe Driving points, and 80% of four-truck fleets have fewer Unsafe Driving points than you. Your Unsafe Driving score would be 80. And at that level, insurance carriers will take notice.

Note: The FMCSA is currently overhauling how CSA scores are calculated. The new system will simplify severity weights and rename the categories. You can preview your score under the new methodology at https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/prioritizationpreview.

When does a CSA score become a problem?

Each category has a specific threshold where the FMCSA will step in, typically in the 65–80% range. At that point, the FMCSA may send a warning letter, ask you to submit a safety improvement plan, or run a full compliance audit where an investigator reviews your records and operations.

Insurance carriers watch these same numbers. If you're flagged by the FMCSA, you're also a red flag to insurers. That can mean a higher quote, or they might decide not to quote you at all.

How your CSA score affects your insurance rate

Insurance carriers use CSA scores as a way to understand how risky your fleet is. Fleets with clean records consistently get better rates. Fleets with rising scores are seen as riskier to insure. Higher scores might mean paying more at renewal, or having trouble finding coverage at all.

What you can do to improve your score

Check your scores before your insurer does. You can log in to ai.fmcsa.dot.gov to see your scores. Look at it before renewal so you're not caught off guard. (Cai can also help you monitor your FMCSA data automatically.)
Challenge violations that are wrong. Roadside inspection records aren't always accurate. If you think a violation is incorrect, you can formally dispute it through the FMCSA’s DataQs portal: https://dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov. After you submit your dispute, the agency that issued the violation will review it. If they agree to remove it, your score will drop. This is one of the most underused options available to fleet owners.
Coach your drivers. Most unsafe driving and hours-of-service violations are preventable. Regular check-ins, ELD reviews, and clear expectations make a real difference. Over time, a safer driver culture shows up in your scores.
Stay on top of maintenance. Vehicle maintenance is one of the most common categories to flag, and one of the most avoidable. A basic preventive maintenance schedule dramatically reduces the chance of a violation during a roadside inspection.
Keep records. If you need to dispute a violation, documentation is your best tool. Maintenance logs, driver records, and inspection paperwork all help make your case.

The bottom line

Your CSA score is a live record of how your fleet looks to the FMCSA, and to the insurance carriers pricing your policy. The best time to pay attention to it is well before your insurance renewal, so you can catch issues and make improvements before they affect your premiums.

If you’re working with Cai for your fleet’s insurance, reach out to our team for help setting up proactive compliance monitoring. We provide it at no cost to your fleet.

Frequently asked questions

What is a CSA score in trucking? It's a safety score assigned to your fleet by the FMCSA based on roadside inspections, violations, and crash history. The higher your score in any category, the more risky you seem to regulators, shippers, and insurance carriers.

What is a good CSA score? There's no single number to aim for. Your score in each category is a percentile, meaning it tells you how you rank compared to similarly-sized fleets. A score of 70 doesn't mean you got 70 out of 100. It means your fleet had more violations than 70% of carriers your size. In general, anything below 20 will put you in a strong position.

How do I check my CSA score? Your score is publicly available at ai.fmcsa.dot.gov. You can look up your fleet by DOT number at any time.

Does my CSA score affect my trucking insurance rates? Yes. Insurance carriers pull your FMCSA safety data when pricing your policy. They want to see that your fleet isn’t riskier than your peers. From an insurance standpoint, under 20 looks good, under 50 is generally acceptable, and above 75 is where you may have trouble getting good insurance quotes. High scores in certain categories — especially Unsafe Driving, Vehicle Maintenance, and Crash History — can lead to higher premiums or coverage being declined.

How do I lower my CSA score? Focus on driver coaching, preventive maintenance, and disputing any violations you believe are inaccurate. Violations age off your record over time, so the sooner you start making improvements to your operations, the sooner your CSA score will drop.

Most insurance brokers only show up at renewal. Cai monitors your FMCSA data year-round to flag issues before they affect your insurance premiums, not after. Give us a call at (770) 765-0331 to get started today.

What’s the difference between Auto Liability, Cargo, and General Liability coverage?

Cai Insurance Team — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 23:31:44 GMT

If you're running a fleet, you've probably had to shop for these policies. But what do they actually cover, and do you need all three?

All three policies protect you when something goes wrong involving other people or their property. (Other types of coverage, like Physical Damage, are also important to protect you and your assets, like your truck.)

Here's what Auto Liability, Cargo, and General Liability do, in plain terms.

What is Auto Liability, and why is it required?

What it covers: If one of your trucks causes an accident, whether it’s a fender-bender or a serious crash, this is what pays for the other person's medical bills, repairs to their vehicle, and any legal costs if they sue you.

Without Auto Liability, those costs come out of your pocket. That's why it's required by federal law. Every for-hire motor carrier has to carry it. It's the foundation of any trucking insurance policy.

How much coverage do you need? The federal minimum for general freight is $750,000, but most shippers and brokers won't work with you at the minimum. A $1,000,000 limit is the industry standard.

What is Cargo insurance, and who needs it?

What it's for: If the freight you're hauling gets damaged, stolen, or lost while it's in your hands, Cargo insurance pays to replace or compensate for it.

Say you're hauling a load of electronics and the trailer gets broken into, or a shipment arrives damaged after a rough road. Cargo insurance covers the cost. Without it, you're on the hook.

Plus, most brokers require proof of Cargo coverage before they'll dispatch to you.

How much coverage do you need? $100,000 per load is the standard starting point. If you're hauling high-value freight (like pharmaceuticals, power tools, or produce) you might need more.

One thing to check: Cargo policies have exclusions: specific scenarios they won't pay out for. Some don't cover temperature-sensitive freight. Some exclude certain commodities entirely. Make sure you know what your policy covers before you take a load.

What General Liability covers

What it's for: Commercial General Liability (CGL), also called General Liability (GL), covers accidents that happen off the truck, while your drivers are still on the job: like injuries at a customer’s dock or warehouse, property damage during loading and unloading, or any other situation where someone holds your business responsible for something that wasn't caused by your truck.

Your driver parks at a shipper's dock and slips while walking to the office. Or during unloading, a pallet falls and damages the customer's equipment. Auto Liability doesn't cover that because the truck isn't moving. GL does.

Why it matters now: A few years ago, GL was less common in trucking. But today, if you don't carry it, you may find yourself excluded from certain freight opportunities. Many brokers and shippers now require it.

Do you need all three?

For almost every fleet owner, the answer is yes.

Imagine one of your drivers is making a delivery.

On the way to the dock, he rear-ends another car. Auto Liability covers the other driver's medical bills and car repairs.
While unloading, a pallet drops and damages the customer's forklift. General Liability covers that.
The shipper later finds that three pallets of product arrived wet and ruined. Cargo covers that.

Three incidents. Three different policies. Each one covers what the others don't. If you're missing one, that's a gap — and a risk to your fleet.

How much coverage do you need?

It depends on what you're hauling, what your broker contracts require, and how much risk you're comfortable taking on.

For most small fleets, a reasonable starting point might look like:

Auto Liability: $1,000,000
Cargo: $100,000 per load
General Liability: $1,000,000 per incident, $2,000,000 total per year

The bottom line

Auto Liability, Cargo, and General Liability each protect a different part of your trucking operation from situations where you would have to pay someone else for damage to their property or an injury to them. Gaps between them are where you risk an unexpected financial hit to your fleet.

If you're not sure your coverage is structured right, or you're shopping for trucking insurance for the first time, getting these three in place is where you should start.

You can always reach out to a Cai Insurance broker for help figuring out what makes sense for your fleet. Give us a call any time at (770) 765-0331.

Frequently asked questions

Is Cargo insurance required for trucking? The law doesn't require it, but in practice you’ll probably need it. Most freight brokers won't give you loads without it. The standard minimum they ask for is $100,000 per load.

How much Auto Liability insurance do I need? The law requires at least $750,000 for general freight carriers. But most shippers and brokers won't work with you below $1,000,000, so that's become the real-world standard.

What does General Liability cover? It covers incidents that happen when your truck isn't involved: a slip and fall at a shipper's dock, damage to a customer's property during unloading, that kind of thing. If Auto Liability doesn't cover it, General Liability usually does.

What's the difference between Auto Liability and General Liability? Auto Liability covers your truck hitting something or someone. General Liability covers everything else: accidents at a customer's location, damage during loading and unloading, and similar situations.

Do I need all three types of trucking insurance? Most fleets will need all three. Auto Liability is required by law. Cargo is required by most brokers. General Liability is increasingly required by shippers and brokers before they'll work with you. Without all three, there are gaps — and gaps can be expensive.

How does Physical Damage fit in? Auto Liability, Cargo, and Commercial General Liability all cover situations involving other people: their injuries, their property, or the freight you're hauling. None of them cover damage to your trucks. That’s where Physical Damage comes in.

Before Cai, our team spent years running our own fleet. Give us a call at (770) 765-0331, and we’ll help you figure out what coverage you need, then get you competitive quotes, fast.