Truck Accidents | Virginia
How Much Insurance Do Trucking Companies Have to Carry?
A plain-language guide to the federal financial responsibility rules for commercial trucks, and why they matter after a serious crash.
Published October 29, 2026
Federal rules set a minimum amount of liability insurance for many trucking companies. The amount depends on what the truck hauls and how it travels. Readers often ask how much insurance do trucking companies have to carry, so this page explains the federal rules and what they mean after a serious crash.
The Short Answer: The Federal Minimum for General Freight
For many for-hire carriers hauling nonhazardous freight across state lines, the federal minimum is $750,000. That figure comes from Table 1 to 49 CFR 387.9, which sets minimum public liability levels by type of carriage and cargo. Public liability means liability for bodily injury or property damage, and it includes environmental restoration (49 CFR 387.5).
Federal law also bars a motor carrier from operating a vehicle until it has that coverage in effect (49 CFR 387.7). Think of $750,000 as a floor, not a description of every trucking company. A company may carry more, and the amount it needs can change from one trip to the next.
If a truck crash left you or a family member hurt, you may have a claim, and the firm is glad to talk through your situation with you. Talk it through with Correll Law Firm — we can walk you through how a situation like yours is usually handled and what your options are.
Which Carriers and Trucks the Federal Rule Covers
The rule covers for-hire carriers moving property in interstate or foreign commerce. It also reaches some hazardous cargo moved within one state (49 CFR 387.3). For-hire carriage means transporting another person’s goods for pay.
That definition matters. The general-freight entry in the federal table covers for-hire carriage only, so a company hauling just its own goods is a different case. Some other entries also apply to private carriers. Whether a trip crosses state lines also changes which entry applies. The general-freight minimum is not automatically the number for every truck on the road.
Hazardous Materials Entries in the Federal Table
The federal regulation sets minimum levels of financial responsibility for motor carriers in a schedule of limits that varies by type of carriage and commodity transported (49 CFR 387.9).
The schedule’s entry for oil and certain hazardous materials not listed in the higher entries covers, for for-hire and private carriers, interstate or foreign carriage in any quantity, where the vehicle has a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 or more pounds (49 CFR 387.9). In intrastate commerce, that level applies to bulk loads only (49 CFR 387.9).
The schedule of public liability limits in 49 C.F.R. § 387.9 sets the minimum levels of financial responsibility referred to in § 387.7, and it lists highway route controlled quantities of a Class 7 material, as defined in 49 CFR 173.403, among the commodities in the entry covering for-hire and private carriage in interstate, foreign, or intrastate commerce with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 or more pounds (49 CFR 387.9).
The table ties the required amount to what the truck carries. The same company can face different minimums on different trips, depending on its cargo.
Carriers May Carry More Than the Minimum
The federal figure is the least the rule requires, not the most a carrier can buy.
A shipper, broker or contract may also ask for higher limits. Those requests sit outside the federal table.
Coverage a company actually holds is a separate question from the federal minimum. The minimum levels of financial responsibility referred to in § 387.7 are set out in the schedule in 49 CFR 387.9. The rule that required policies stay in effect until terminated is found in 49 CFR 387.7. Cancellation takes 35 days’ written notice from either the insurer or the carrier (49 CFR 387.7).
What Policy Limits Mean for Someone Injured in a Truck Crash
A policy limit is the most a policy pays for covered losses from one accident. Liability coverage pays the people the carrier becomes legally responsible to pay. Those people can include other drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
One limit may need to cover several injured people in the same crash. Serious injuries can bring medical bills and lost income that run past a minimum limit. That is why the amount of coverage matters to injured people and their families.
Crashes can involve more than one party.
Virginia’s rules for ordinary owner’s policies are separate. For policies effective on or after January 1, 2025, the state minimum is $50,000 for one person and $100,000 for two or more persons in one accident. It also requires $25,000 for property damage (Va. Code § 46.2-472).
How Coverage Is Confirmed in a Claim
Coverage for a specific company and crash is confirmed through the claim process. Federal rules say proof of financial responsibility is public information. It must be produced for review on reasonable request by a member of the public (49 CFR 387.7).
A claim may look at the policy, the carrier’s proof of coverage and the crash report. Virginia requires a driver involved in a crash with injury or death to stop and report it to police immediately (Va. Code §§ 46.2-371, 46.2-894). A police report is one record a claim may use to show how the crash happened.
Not sure what your next step is?
Talk it through with Correll Law Firm — we can walk you through how a situation like yours is usually handled and what your options are.
Why the Crash Details Matter Alongside Insurance
Insurance limits are only one part of a truck crash claim. The facts of the crash help decide who may be responsible.
The firm’s overview of truck accident claims explains how these pieces fit together. Driver fatigue rules can be part of the facts a claim examines. Read more in hours-of-service rules and crash claims.
Semi-truck crashes can cause fractures and ligament damage. Those injuries can affect work and daily life. The broken bones and ligament damage page covers these injuries.
What is financial responsibility?
Financial responsibility means reserves, such as insurance policies or surety bonds, that are enough to cover the liability amounts in the federal subpart (49 CFR 387.5).
Do smaller vehicles fall under this rule?
Under 49 C.F.R. § 387.3(c)(1), the rules in that subpart do not apply to a motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 10,001 pounds, but that exception does not apply to certain hazardous materials transported in interstate or foreign commerce, as listed in the section (49 CFR 387.3).
Must a carrier keep proof of coverage on site?
Federal rules require the carrier to keep proof of financial responsibility at its principal place of business (49 CFR 387.7).
Readers in the Shenandoah Valley can also read about the first days after a truck crash on Interstate 81.