Pennsylvania truck insurance

Hauling across state lines

Interstate for-hire freight needs the federal set: USDOT number, operating authority (MC), BMC-91 or BMC-91X filed with FMCSA by your insurer, a BOC-3 and at least $750,000 of liability for general freight in vehicles rated 10,001 lbs GVWR or more. See the new authority guide.

Hauling for pay inside Pennsylvania: the PUC certificate

The PUC’s rule of thumb: when both the origin and the destination of a trip are in Pennsylvania and you are paid for it, you need a PUC number — a federal USDOT or MC number does not authorize intrastate business. Operating without PUC authority carries a $1,000 fine per violation.

• The application for a property carrier costs $100, one time; the PUC estimates processing at about 2–3 weeks.
• You cannot operate or advertise until the certificate is issued.
• Certificate holders file an annual assessment report and are billed on their non-exempt revenue.

Hauling your own property — to yourself or straight to your buyers, in your own trucks that don’t haul for others — is outside PUC authority. So are dump trucks hauling ashes, rubbish, excavated material and road construction materials — though the exemption does not cover five-axle tractor-trailers, and the PUC’s exemption list says road construction materials don’t include material for parking lots.

Pennsylvania insurance minimums for PUC carriers

Vehicles over 10,000 lbs GVWR (or GCWR)

$750,000 per accident

Vehicles 10,000 lbs or less

$300,000 per accident

Cargo

At least $5,000 — not required for dump trucks, vehicles limited to coal, earth, crushed stone and similar construction materials, or loads worth $500 or less, once an affidavit saying so is filed with the PUC

Only binding filings count: your insurance company files a Form E for liability and a Form H for cargo. Where the cargo exemption applies, the carrier signs and submits a cargo waiver instead. The PUC does not accept certificates of insurance, and it gives 60 days to get the binding proof filed.

USDOT numbers and road tax

PennDOT requires trucks of 17,001 lbs GVWR or GCWR or more operating in intrastate commerce to display the carrier’s USDOT number — a rule in force since April 2010, with exemptions for farm trucks, school buses and government vehicles. Trucks running only inside Pennsylvania that meet the qualified-vehicle thresholds owe the state’s Motor Carriers Road Tax and must display its decals.

Getting truck insurance quotes in Pennsylvania

• USDOT number, MC number if you haul interstate, and your PUC number or application.
• For-hire, private or exempt dump work — it decides whether you need the PUC filings.
• For each truck: VIN, year, make, model, GVWR and axles.
• What you haul (and whether a cargo waiver applies), drivers’ records and experience.
• Loss runs from recent insurers.

More: dump truck insurance and cargo insurance.