Texas truck insurance

Hauling across state lines

For-hire freight that crosses a state line falls under the federal rules: a USDOT number, operating authority (MC number), a BMC-91 or BMC-91X filed with FMCSA by your insurer, a BOC-3, and liability of at least $750,000 for general freight in vehicles rated 10,001 lbs GVWR or more ($300,000 below that). The new authority guide walks through the steps.

Hauling only inside Texas: the TxDMV number

TxDMV says you must register as a motor carrier (get a “TxDMV number”) when you:

• operate a commercial motor vehicle or combination with a gross weight, registered weight or gross weight rating over 26,000 lbs;
• haul hazardous materials in placarded quantities;
• operate a farm vehicle of 48,000 lbs or more;
• operate a vehicle designed for more than 15 passengers, or a commercial school bus;
• move household goods for compensation — in any size vehicle.

That covers private carriers as well as for-hire. If none of these apply to your truck, TxDMV’s list does not call for a TxDMV number — Texas’ basic auto liability law still applies.

How it works: register with USDOT as an intrastate carrier first (a USDOT number is part of the application), then apply in TxMCCS, TxDMV’s online system. After your application is approved, TxDMV emails you to have your insurance company file the required insurance; once it is filed and fees are paid, TxMCCS issues your certificate. Registration can run 7 days, 90 days, one year or two years, and you print your cab cards in TxMCCS. TxDMV charges a $100 insurance filing fee on top of application and per-vehicle fees, and every registered carrier must certify it complies with federal drug-testing rules and name its consortium or testing facility.

Texas insurance minimums

The levels are set in 43 Texas Administrative Code §218.16, in the version TxDMV adopted in December 2024:

Commercial vehicles over 26,000 lbs

$500,000 — private or for-hire, including movers’ trucks over 26,000 lbs

Movers’ trucks 26,000 lbs or less

$300,000

Farm trucks 48,000 lbs or more

$500,000

Oil and most hazardous materials

$1,000,000

Certain bulk hazmat, explosives, poison gas, radioactive loads

$5,000,000

Movers’ cargo

$5,000 for one shipper’s goods; $10,000 in total for several shippers’ goods on one vehicle

One more Texas rule: a for-hire carrier that must register and whose main business is hauling between two or more cities must give all employees workers’ compensation or accident coverage of at least $300,000 in medical benefits for 104 weeks, $100,000 for accidental death and dismemberment, 70% of pre-injury income for at least 104 weeks, and a $500 maximum weekly benefit.

Keeping the Texas filing clean

• Only your insurance company can file proof of insurance with TxDMV — Form E for liability, Forms H and I for movers’ cargo — or a cancellation (Form K).
• You are responsible for keeping your insurance record in TxMCCS “Active”. A lapse can bring administrative penalties or sanctions, or revocation of your certificate.
• If your insurer cancels the policy, TxDMV emails you 30 days before the cancellation — as long as your email address in TxMCCS is current.
• When you change insurers, have the new Form E filed before the old policy ends, so the record never lapses.

Hauling interstate as well? Your federal filing with FMCSA and your Texas filing with TxDMV are separate — ask the agent to set up both.

Getting truck insurance quotes in Texas

• USDOT number (intrastate or interstate), plus MC number and TxDMV number if you have them.
• Each truck’s VIN, year, make, model, gross weight rating and registered weight — the 26,000-lb line decides which rules apply.
• Drivers’ license details and years of experience.
• What you haul (household goods? hazmat?), where you run, and your contracts’ limits.
• Loss runs from recent insurers.

For coverage beyond the minimum see cargo insurance, the dump truck guide and what drives the price.