Guides
Straight answers on trucking coverage
Plain-English explainers on the filings, coverages, and costs that matter to a Texas fleet.
What Is an MCS-90 Endorsement?
The MCS-90 is a federal endorsement attached to a motor carrier’s liability policy that guarantees the public will be paid for injury or property damage up to the federal minimum — even if the policy would otherwise not respond. It is a public safety net required for FMCSA operating authority, not a substitute for your liability coverage.
Read guideForm E and Texas Trucking Insurance Filings
A Form E is the proof-of-insurance filing that an intrastate Texas motor carrier’s insurer submits to TxDMV to show the carrier meets the state’s financial-responsibility requirement. It is the Texas equivalent of the federal insurance filing, and a matching Form K is used to cancel it.
Read guideInsurance for a New Trucking Authority
A new motor carrier cannot activate its FMCSA operating authority until proof of insurance is filed, so new-authority insurance is the step that turns your MC number on. New authorities pay higher rates at first; the fastest ways to lower them are clean driver records, experience, telematics, and growing to a fleet of three or more units.
Read guideHow Much Does Commercial Truck Insurance Cost in Texas?
Commercial truck insurance in Texas is priced on radius, commodity, driver records, authority age, loss history, and fleet size rather than a flat rate. Established fleets of three or more units with clean records and telematics pay far less per truck than a single new-authority operator, which is why fleet programs are where the real savings are.
Read guideFMCSA Insurance Requirements for Motor Carriers
FMCSA requires interstate for-hire carriers to keep proof of financial responsibility on file — a liability filing (the BMC-91X) at $750,000 for general freight, $1,000,000 or $5,000,000 for hazardous materials, and a cargo filing (BMC-34) for household-goods movers. Without these filings your authority will not activate or stay active.
Read guideHow to Lower Your Trucking Insurance Cost
The biggest levers on a fleet’s truck insurance cost are the ones underwriters actually reward: strict driver hiring and MVR standards, telematics, documented maintenance, a safety program, and a clean loss history. Growing to a fleet of three or more units and keeping a clean year are what turn a high new-authority rate into a competitive renewal.
Read guideHow Your CSA Score Affects Truck Insurance
Your FMCSA CSA score — the SMS percentiles across seven BASIC categories like Unsafe Driving and HOS Compliance — is public, and underwriters use it as a direct signal of how safely your fleet runs. Strong scores earn better pricing and market access; poor scores raise rates or close markets entirely.
Read guideWhat Is Reefer Breakdown Coverage?
Reefer breakdown coverage is an endorsement on a motor truck cargo policy that pays for freight spoiled when the refrigeration unit fails. Standard cargo policies exclude mechanical refrigeration breakdown, so without this endorsement a spoiled load is not covered — and carriers usually require proof of unit maintenance and temperature logs for it to respond.
Read guideOwner-Operator vs. Fleet Trucking Insurance
A single owner-operator and a fleet of three or more are underwritten differently: the owner-operator is priced on one driver and one truck, while a fleet is priced as an operation with hiring, maintenance, and safety systems — and with loss history to rate on. That is why per-truck cost usually drops as a fleet grows, and why fleet programs are where the competitive pricing lives.
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