Licensed in Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas
Licensed in Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas
After a crash with a work vehicle, one of the earliest questions is what coverage sits behind it. The answer is not left to the carrier’s discretion, because federal regulation sets minimum levels that a motor carrier must hold before it may operate at all.
Those minimums are a floor rather than a full description of what is available, and they change with the cargo and with the number of seats. Knowing which entry applies is part of identifying the vehicle, not a separate exercise.
At Lukov Injury Law, we establish the coverage picture alongside the vehicle classification rather than after it.
The sections below set out the required levels, the endorsement that sits on the policy, and the notice rules that govern cancellation. Contact us today to talk through the vehicle involved in your crash.
The obligation comes first and the numbers come second. Under 49 CFR 387.7(a), “No motor carrier shall operate a motor vehicle until the motor carrier has obtained and has in effect the minimum levels of financial responsibility as set forth in § 387.9 of this subpart.”
The schedule at 49 CFR 387.9 then sets those levels for property carriers:
The pattern is straightforward once the categories are separated. Ordinary freight sits at the base level. Cargo capable of causing wider harm carries a higher requirement, and the highest tier is reserved for material transported in bulk.
Because the schedule is built around what can go wrong rather than around the size of the company. A tanker and a dry van may be operated by the same carrier over the same route, and the required level follows the load rather than the letterhead.
That has a practical consequence for anyone injured. The category of cargo is not a detail to be established later. It is one of the facts that sets the outer boundary of the required coverage, and it is visible at the scene through placarding, shipping papers and the configuration of the trailer.
One more distinction belongs here. The higher tiers reach both for-hire and private carriers, so a company hauling its own hazardous material in its own vehicles is inside the same requirement as a company hauling it for hire. The base $750,000 entry, by contrast, is written for for-hire carriage.
The commerce element runs through the schedule as well, and it does not read the way people expect. The $5,000,000 bulk hazardous entry reaches carriers in interstate, foreign or intrastate commerce, while the $1,000,000 entry reaches interstate or foreign commerce in any quantity and intrastate commerce in bulk only. A carrier whose vehicles never leave Louisiana is therefore not automatically outside the schedule, and which line applies turns on the material and the manner of carriage rather than on the route.
There is also an entry that runs the other way. The schedule sets a $5,000,000 level for certain bulk division materials and highway route controlled quantities of Class 7 material carried in vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 10,001 pounds. That is the point at which the weight thresholds stop governing entirely, and the nature of the load takes over.
Passenger transport has its own subpart and its own schedule, and the numbers are higher.
Under 49 CFR 387.31(a), no motor carrier may operate a motor vehicle transporting passengers until it holds the minimum levels set at 49 CFR 387.33. That schedule, for for-hire motor carriers of passengers operating in interstate or foreign commerce, runs by seating capacity:
Seating capacity, not the number of people aboard, is what the schedule measures. A vehicle rated for 16 occupants falls in the higher band even when it was carrying four at the time.
A separate provision at 387.33(b) addresses transit service providers operating across more than one State under a government agreement funded in whole or in part by a grant under 49 U.S.C. 5307, 5310 or 5311, including services designed for elderly individuals and individuals with disabilities. For those operations the minimum level is the highest required by any of the States in which the provider operates.
Proof of financial responsibility is carried by an endorsement attached to the policy rather than by the policy language alone.
Under 49 CFR 387.15, endorsements for policies of insurance take Form MCS-90 and surety bonds take Form MCS-82, both in the form prescribed by the FMCSA. The same section requires that the endorsement specify that coverage “will remain in effect continuously until terminated,” and that it “be issued in the exact name of the motor carrier.”
Two details in that section do real work in a claim.
Because the forms are prescribed rather than drafted by each insurer, the endorsement is a recognizable document. Identifying whether one exists, and in whose name, is an early step in a claim involving a commercial motor vehicle.
Not silently, and that is the point of the notice rule.
49 CFR 387.7(b)(1) provides that policies of insurance, surety bonds and endorsements required under the section “shall remain in effect continuously until terminated,” and that cancellation may be effected by the insurer or the insured motor carrier “giving 35 days’ notice in writing to the other.” The 35 days run from the date the notice is transmitted, and proof of transmission is sufficient proof of notice.
Two exceptions sit alongside it. Policies and surety bonds may be obtained for a finite period to cover any lapse in continuous compliance, and a separate exception applies to certain Mexico-domiciled carriers operating in border municipalities under a Certificate of Registration, who may insure for periods of 24 hours or longer.
The passenger subpart carries the same 35-day structure at 49 CFR 387.31(b)(1). For an injured person, the significance is that coverage status on the date of a crash is a documented question with a paper trail behind it, rather than something to be taken on the carrier’s word.
The schedules describe what a carrier must hold, not what it chose to buy. A carrier may hold more, and identifying the actual limits is a separate step from identifying the required ones.
Several other threads can matter alongside the primary policy. A vehicle may be owned by one entity and operated by another, each with its own insurance. A shipper or broker may sit behind the movement. Where a death resulted, the questions that follow are handled on our wrongful death page rather than here.
None of that can be worked out from the outside. It comes from the endorsement, the declarations, the registration and the contracts between the parties, which is why the request goes out early rather than after treatment has finished.
There is a further reason to move promptly on the coverage question rather than to leave it until the medical picture is settled. The financial responsibility documents are held by the carrier and its insurer, but the facts that decide which schedule entry applies sit in the operational records, and those have their own retention periods. Shipping papers identify the material carried. Registration identifies the owner as of the date of the crash rather than as of the date of the inquiry. Where a vehicle changes hands or a carrier ceases to operate, the ordinary path to those documents narrows.
The sequence that follows from all of this is simple enough to state. Establish what the vehicle was, then which schedule entry the cargo or the seating puts it in, then whether an endorsement exists and in whose exact name, then whether the coverage was in effect on the day. Each step is answered by a document rather than by an estimate, and each document sits with someone other than the injured person.
The required minimum is a starting figure, not an answer, and the documents that show the real position are held by the carrier and its insurer rather than by the person who was injured. At Lukov Injury Law, we pursue the classification and the coverage together, because the same facts decide both.
You work directly with Abby Lukov, not a case manager, and the first conversation costs nothing. Call us today to talk through the vehicle and what coverage may sit behind it.
For a for-hire carrier operating in interstate or foreign commerce with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 or more pounds and transporting non-hazardous property, 49 CFR 387.9 sets the minimum level of public liability at $750,000. Higher tiers of $1,000,000 and $5,000,000 apply to categories of hazardous materials described in the same schedule.
Yes. The schedule at 49 CFR 387.9 sets $5,000,000 for certain hazardous substances carried in bulk in cargo tanks, portable tanks or hopper-type vehicles, along with several bulk division categories and highway route controlled quantities of Class 7 material. A further $1,000,000 tier covers listed oil, hazardous waste, hazardous materials and hazardous substances not caught by the higher entry.
Under 49 CFR 387.33, for-hire motor carriers of passengers in interstate or foreign commerce must hold $5,000,000 for any vehicle with a seating capacity of 16 passengers or more including the driver, and $1,500,000 for any vehicle with a seating capacity of 15 passengers or less including the driver. Seating capacity is what the schedule measures, not the number of people aboard.
It is the prescribed endorsement for a policy of insurance used to meet the federal financial responsibility requirement. Under 49 CFR 387.15 it must be in the form prescribed by the FMCSA, must specify that coverage will remain in effect continuously until terminated, and must be issued in the exact name of the motor carrier. Form MCS-82 performs the same role for surety bonds.
Under 49 CFR 387.7(b)(1), the required policies, surety bonds and endorsements remain in effect continuously until terminated, and cancellation may be effected by the insurer or the insured motor carrier giving 35 days’ notice in writing to the other. The 35 days commence from the date the notice is transmitted, and proof of transmission is sufficient proof of notice.
No. The schedules set what a carrier is required to hold before it may operate. A carrier may hold more than the minimum, and what is available in a particular claim depends on the actual policies, the parties involved and the facts. The required level is a starting point for the inquiry rather than a figure attached to any individual case.
It is possible, and it depends on the arrangement. A vehicle may be owned by one entity and operated by another, a shipper or broker may sit behind the movement, and each relationship can carry its own coverage. The declarations, endorsements, registration and contracts between the parties are what establish the position.
Through the documents rather than through the roadside conversation. The endorsement and declarations sit with the carrier and its insurer, registration identifies the owner, and operating authority records identify the carrier. A request directed at the right entity early is what secures that picture while the records are current.
Disclaimer: This article provides general information and should not be treated as legal advice. Laws change over time, and outcomes depend on the specific facts of each case. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading this article or contacting Lukov Injury Law LLC. For advice about your situation, contact a qualified attorney. Time limits apply to legal claims, so do not delay in seeking legal help.
