Dually pickup with a gooseneck flatbed loaded with a skid steer and steel pipe on a highway shoulder, the rig hotshot insurance covers

Hotshot insurance for your setup

Hotshot insurance covers a pickup, often a dually with double rear wheels, that pulls a trailer for pay. Four questions show what yours needs.

How do you run?

Under my own authorityI have, or am getting, my own MC number to haul for payLeased on to a carrierI drive under another trucking company’s MC numberHauling my own goodsNobody pays me to haul; the freight is my own business’s

What is the combined weight rating of truck and trailer?

Under 10,001 lbs10,001 to 26,000 lbsMost dually and gooseneck rigsOver 26,000 lbs

What do you haul?

General freightEquipment, cars, building supplies, palletsHazmat that needs placardsIncluding oil and hazardous wasteBulk hazmat in a tank, or explosivesCargo tanks, portable tanks, explosives, poison gas

Where do you haul?

Federal liability minimums

Liability insurance pays for injuries and damage your truck causes to other people. The law sets the least you must carry:

$300,000Paid to haul general freight, truck and trailer rated under 10,001 lbs49 CFR 387.9

$750,000The same at 10,001 lbs or more, where most dually and gooseneck rigs sit49 CFR 387.9

$1M to $5MHazardous material, set by what you haul49 CFR 387.9

$1M + $100KWhat most brokers ask: liability plus cargo coverC.H. Robinson, TQL, Amazon Relay

The minimum for each setup

Your setup	Minimum liability	Proof you must file
Paid to haul general freight under your own MC number, truck and trailer rated under 10,001 lbs	$300,000	BMC-91X + MCS-90
Paid to haul general freight under your own MC number, rated 10,001 lbs and up	$750,000	BMC-91X + MCS-90
Oil, hazardous waste, or hazardous material that needs warning signs (placards), 10,001 lbs or more	$1,000,000	MCS-90, plus BMC-91X if you are paid to haul
Explosives, poison gas, or hazardous material carried in a tank	$5,000,000	MCS-90, plus BMC-91X if you are paid to haul
Driving for a trucking company, under its MC number (called leased on)	The company’s policy	None in your name
Hauling only your own business’s goods, with no hazardous material, at any weight	No federal minimum	No federal filing; you still need a USDOT number, and your state’s auto insurance law applies. Carrying hazardous material? Use the rows above.
Only inside one state: every load starts and ends there and is not part of a longer trip across state lines	That state’s minimum	A state filing, often Form E

Sources: 49 CFR 387.9 and FMCSA’s insurance filing rules. With only the legal minimum, fewer loads are open to you.

Roughly what it costs a month

$665–$1,165a month for an established hotshot business with a clean driving recordTrucking Insurance Services

$1,000–$1,800a month in the first two years with your own new MC numberTrucker Path Insurance

$896a month, the middle quote hotshot owners got for their truck policyInsureon

$734–$926a month, the average for every truck paid to haul, big rigs includedProgressive Commercial

Insurance costs the most in your first two years with your own MC number, because insurers have no claims record to go on. Driving for a trucking company usually costs less, because that company’s policy covers most crash claims while you work for it. Hotshot insurance cost in detail

Talk with an agent who covers hotshots

Tell the agent your truck and trailer, who you haul for, and when your own authority starts if you are getting one. They can quote the limits your brokers and your setup call for.

+1 866 403 5064

Hotshot Insure passes your request to one truck insurance agency. We do not sell or quote insurance. An insurance agent quotes your truck.

Or send your details

How you run

Truck

State you are based in

When your authority starts

Your name

Phone

or email

By sending this request, you agree that Hotshot Insure and the truck insurance agency that receives it may contact you about truck insurance by email, and with calls or texts to the phone number you gave us, which may be sent by automated dialing. Your agreement is not a condition of any purchase.

Filings for your own MC number

Your MC number turns on only after your insurer files proof of coverage, and the insurer has 20 days once your application is published. Set up the policy first.

OP-1: The application for your MC number: $300, paid once.
BOC-3: Names a process agent in each state to accept legal papers for you.
BMC-91X: Your insurer’s proof of liability cover, sent to the FMCSA within 20 days.
MCS-90: A page on your policy that pays people hurt in a crash you cause, up to the minimum.
UCR: A yearly registration for trucking across state lines: $55 for 0 to 2 trucks.
Form E: The same kind of proof as the BMC-91X, sent to a state for trucks that stay inside it.

New authority checklist and fees

Your state’s rules

When every load stays inside one state, that state sets the minimum and the filing:

State	Minimum inside the state	Applies to	Source
Texas	$500,000	Minimum Texas liability for trucks over 26,000 lbs	txdmv.gov
California	$300,000 to $5,000,000	Liability coverage required for a California Motor Carrier Permit	dmv.ca.gov
Florida	$50,000 to $300,000	Florida liability minimums for trucks 26,000 lbs and up	leg.state.fl.us
Ohio	$750,000	Intrastate public liability for for-hire trucks 10,001 pounds or more	codes.ohio.gov

Also Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, New Jersey. All 50 states and DC