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Federal Insurance Minimums for Small Hauling Fleets: The $750,000 Rule and Who It Applies To

Updated September 2026

Operating without the required level of financial responsibility is one of the sixteen violations that fail a new-entrant safety audit outright (49 CFR 385.321). The federal minimums are in a short table at 49 CFR 387.9.

The schedule

  • $750,000 — for-hire carriers of non-hazardous property, in interstate or foreign commerce, in vehicles with a GVWR of 10,001 lbs or more.
  • $1,000,000 — for-hire and private carriers hauling oil or listed hazardous materials, substances or wastes, in vehicles of 10,001 lbs or more.
  • $5,000,000 — for-hire and private carriers hauling the most dangerous cargo — bulk hazardous substances in cargo tanks, certain explosives, poison-gas and radioactive materials — including, for some of those, in vehicles under 10,001 lbs.

These are minimums for public liability — bodily injury and property damage to other people. They are not cargo insurance, and they are not coverage for your own truck.

Are you "for-hire"?

The first row applies to for-hire carriers: you are paid to transport property that belongs to someone else. Hauling a customer's junk, debris or household goods for a fee is the ordinary case. A private carrier — a contractor carrying its own tools and materials to its own jobs — is not in the first row, and appears in the table only for the hazardous rows.

That does not mean a private carrier can run uninsured: states set their own insurance requirements for vehicles on their roads, and those apply regardless.

Why you'll probably carry more than the table says

  • States set their own minimums for in-state work, and some are higher than you would expect.
  • Customers — general contractors, property managers, municipalities — commonly require $1,000,000 and a certificate naming them.
  • Transfer stations and landfills may require proof of coverage to open an account.
  • Asbestos, fuel, solvents and similar loads can move you into the hazardous rows. Know what is in the load before you quote it.

Proof

Carriers subject to these minimums must have proof of the required financial responsibility — for most, an MCS-90 endorsement on the policy — available at the principal place of business (49 CFR 387.7). Ask your agent for it by name; it is a standard form, and an agent who writes commercial auto will know it.

RelayPoint, in your trade’s words: Movers · Junk removal & hauling · Roll-off & dumpsters · Landscaping & tree service · Portable sanitation & septic

This is general information, not legal or insurance advice, and RelayPoint is not a law firm, an insurance agency or a compliance consultant. Sources: 49 CFR 387.7 and the schedule of limits in 387.9, as published in September 2026, summarised rather than quoted. Passenger carriers, freight forwarders, brokers and household-goods carriers have additional requirements not covered here. State requirements differ. Confirm your obligations with a licensed commercial insurance agent and the FMCSA or your state's motor carrier authority.