The federal schedule
Motor carriers operating in interstate commerce under FMCSA authority must maintain Bodily Injury and Property Damage (BIPD) liability insurance per 49 CFR §387.9. The minimums depend on commodity and vehicle weight: $750,000 for nonhazardous property (for-hire, 10,001+ lbs GVWR); $1 million for oil, hazardous waste, and hazardous materials not in the $5 million category; and $5 million for certain bulk hazardous substances, bulk explosives, bulk Hazard Zone A poison-inhalation material, and highway-route-controlled quantities of radioactive material.
For 2026, the federal minimums in the §387.9 table (four rows at three dollar levels) are unchanged.
Source: 49 CFR 387.9 (eCFR): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/section-387.9
How insurance gets filed
The carrier's insurer files Form BMC-91 or BMC-91X electronically with FMCSA to evidence active BIPD coverage (49 CFR 365.109T). The carrier does not file it directly.
Under 49 USC §13906(a)(1), a carrier's registration remains in effect only as long as the required insurance is maintained. An insurer must give FMCSA 30 days' notice before cancelling (49 CFR 387.313(d)); if replacement coverage is not filed, FMCSA can suspend or revoke the operating authority. Reinstating revoked authority requires new insurance on file, and the filing fee for a petition for reinstatement of revoked operating authority is $80 (49 CFR 360.3T).
State-level differences
States set their own insurance requirements for intrastate carriers, and some are higher than the federal floor for certain operations. Check with your state's transportation regulator.
Cargo coverage is separate from BIPD. Federal cargo minimums apply to household-goods motor carriers: $5,000 per vehicle and $10,000 per occurrence under 49 CFR §387.303(c). General freight cargo minimums are determined by broker / shipper contract.