Quick Answer: Owner operator insurance is the truck insurance a driver who owns the truck is responsible for. Leased to a motor carrier, the carrier insures the public and you usually buy non-trucking liability, physical damage, and often occupational accident. Under your own authority, you buy the full program, starting with at least $750,000 in primary liability for interstate freight. Your lease or your broker contracts tell you the rest.
What Owner Operator Insurance Covers
Primary Auto Liability
Helps pay for injuries and property damage the truck causes to other people. Under your own authority you buy it. Leased on, the motor carrier's policy generally provides it while you are under dispatch.
Non-Trucking Liability
For leased owner operators. It typically responds when you use the truck for something other than the carrier's business. Many leases require it, and it is often sold as bobtail insurance.
Physical Damage
Helps pay to repair or replace your own truck and trailer after a covered collision, theft, fire, or vandalism. A lender will require it on financed equipment.
Motor Truck Cargo
Helps pay for the freight you are hauling when it is damaged or lost in a covered event. Under your own authority, brokers and shippers set the amount by contract.
Occupational Accident
Helps pay medical bills and replace part of lost income after a work injury when you are not covered by workers compensation. It is not workers compensation, and state law decides which applies.
Trailer Interchange
Covers physical damage to a trailer you do not own while it is in your care under a written interchange agreement.
Go deeper on bobtail insurance, non-trucking liability, what physical damage covers, and cargo insurance.
Leased On, or Your Own Authority?
Every owner operator owns the truck. What differs is whose authority the truck runs under, and that decides who buys the liability insurance. Settle that first and the rest of the program follows.
Leased to a motor carrier. Federal leasing rules put the carrier in charge of the truck for the life of the lease and require the lease to state the carrier's duty to insure the public. So the primary liability is the carrier's. What is left to you is whatever the lease assigns: usually non-trucking liability, physical damage on your own equipment, and often occupational accident.
Under your own authority. You are the motor carrier. You buy the primary liability, your insurer makes the federal filing, and brokers will not load you without a certificate. Most operators add physical damage and cargo. It is the full commercial trucking insurance program, written for one truck. Our guide to FMCSA insurance requirements for a new authority walks through the steps in order.
Moving from one to the other. Getting your own MC number changes what you buy and when you need it in place. Talk to us before you file so the policy, the filing, and your start date line up. Illinois operators can start with insurance for a new trucking authority in Illinois.
Not pulling a 53-foot trailer? See hot shot insurance for a pickup and trailer, box truck insurance for straight trucks, and dump truck insurance for haulers. Adding a second truck? A fleet policy puts them on one program.
Bobtail and non-trucking liability are not the same thing
People use the two names for each other. Bobtail generally means driving the tractor with no trailer attached. Non-trucking liability applies when you use the truck for something other than the carrier's business, trailer or not. Read which one your lease names, then send it to us and we will match the policy to it.
Owner Operator Insurance Requirements
Two sets of federal rules apply: the leasing rules if you are leased on, and the financial responsibility rules if you hold your own authority.
| Situation | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Leased on: who insures the public 49 CFR 376.12 |
The lease must give the motor carrier exclusive possession, control, and use of the truck and complete responsibility for its operation, and it must state the carrier's legal duty to carry insurance that protects the public. | Code of Federal Regulations |
| Leased on: everything else 49 CFR 376.12 |
The lease must say who is responsible for any other insurance on the truck, such as bobtail. That line in your lease is your shopping list. | Code of Federal Regulations |
| Leased on: coverage bought through the carrier 49 CFR 376.12 |
If you buy coverage through the carrier, it must give you a copy of each policy when you ask and a certificate of insurance for each one. The lease must also state when cargo or property damage can be deducted from your settlement. | Code of Federal Regulations |
| Own authority: liability minimum 49 CFR 387.9 |
A for-hire carrier hauling non-hazardous property in interstate commerce, in a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more, must carry at least $750,000 in public liability coverage. | Code of Federal Regulations |
| Own authority: proof and filings 49 CFR 387.7 |
You keep proof of coverage, the Form MCS-90 endorsement on the liability policy. Your insurer files Form BMC-91 or BMC-91X with the FMCSA before your authority goes active. | Code of Federal Regulations |
| Own authority: cargo | Federal rules require cargo insurance only of household goods carriers. For general freight the amount is set by your broker or shipper contract. | FMCSA |
| Own authority: USDOT and MC numbers | A USDOT number is required at 10,001 pounds or more in interstate commerce. Operating authority, an MC number, is required to haul federally regulated freight owned by others, for a fee, across state lines. | FMCSA, USDOT number FMCSA, authority |
This is a summary for insurance planning, not legal advice. Hazardous materials carry higher minimums, and each state sets its own rules for carriers that stay in state.
What brokers ask for. With your own authority, the federal minimum will not get you loads from most large brokers. C.H. Robinson and TQL both publish carrier requirements of $1,000,000 in auto liability and $100,000 in cargo. Send us the insurance section of each agreement so the policy and the certificate of insurance match it.
What Owner Operator Insurance Costs
Progressive Commercial reports that its national average monthly cost for commercial truck insurance in 2025 ranged from $734 for specialty truckers to $926 for transport truckers. Seven things move your number, and authority is the first.
| Cost factor | How it moves the premium | What to have ready |
|---|---|---|
| Authority | The biggest divider. Under your own authority you buy the primary liability and the federal filing. Leased on, you generally buy less. | USDOT and MC numbers, or the carrier you are leased to |
| Limits and coverages | A $1,000,000 liability limit and $100,000 in cargo cost more than the federal minimum. Each added coverage adds premium. | Your lease, or the insurance section of your broker contracts |
| What you haul | Cargo premium follows the type of freight and what a load is worth. | Commodities and the typical value of a load |
| Operating radius | More miles and more states mean more exposure on the road. | The states you run and your farthest regular trip |
| Truck and trailer | Physical damage premium follows the type, age, and value of the equipment. | Year, make, VIN, and stated value for each |
| Driving history | Violations and accidents raise the price. Years of commercial driving help. | CDL date, years of experience, and driving record |
| Location | Rates differ by where the truck is based. | The garaging address |
Progressive's averages are for its own new policies in 2025, per power unit, with liability and physical damage and no driver violations. They are not a quote. The seven factors are the ones Progressive lists. For the wider market, read how much commercial truck insurance costs.
What we need for an owner operator insurance quote
Trucking underwriters ask for the same items on every account. Having them ready gets your quote back sooner.
- Whether you are leased to a carrier or run under your own authority
- Leased on: the insurance section of your lease
- Own authority: USDOT and MC numbers, or the date you applied
- Truck: year, make, model, VIN, and stated value
- Trailer: year, type, VIN, and stated value, or whether you pull the carrier's trailers
- Your CDL date, years of experience, and driving record
- What you haul and the typical value of a load
- The states you run and your farthest regular trip
- Prior insurance and loss runs, if you have them
What Our Clients Say
Why Owner Operators Choose Pro Insurance Group
An Agency, Not a Carrier
We are an independent agency. We work for the owner operator and shop the market on your behalf.
Leased or Own Authority
We write both, and we help with the switch when you get your own MC number.
Filings Handled
We arrange the MCS-90 and the BMC-91X filing with your insurer so your authority can go active.
Certificates, Fast
Carriers and brokers want a certificate before you roll. We turn them around the same day in most cases.
Hiring drivers? Ask us about workers compensation and general liability, or read what insurance a trucking company needs.
Owner Operator Insurance FAQ
What is owner operator insurance?
Owner operator insurance is the truck insurance a driver who owns the truck is responsible for. What that includes depends on how you run. Leased to a motor carrier, you usually buy non-trucking liability, physical damage, and often occupational accident. Under your own authority, you buy the full program, starting with primary liability.
What insurance does a leased owner operator need?
Whatever the lease assigns to you. Federal leasing rules require the lease to state the carrier's duty to insure the public and to say who is responsible for any other insurance, such as bobtail. In practice leased owner operators usually carry non-trucking liability and physical damage on their own truck, and many carriers ask for occupational accident.
What insurance do I need with my own authority?
At least $750,000 in primary liability if you haul non-hazardous freight for hire across state lines in a vehicle rated 10,001 pounds or more, with the Form MCS-90 endorsement and the BMC-91 or BMC-91X filing. Most operators add physical damage and cargo. C.H. Robinson and TQL both publish carrier requirements of $1,000,000 in auto liability and $100,000 in cargo.
Is bobtail insurance the same as non-trucking liability?
Not exactly, although the names are often used for each other. Bobtail generally refers to driving the tractor with no trailer attached. Non-trucking liability applies when you use the truck for something other than the carrier's business, with or without a trailer. Check which one your lease names.
Does the motor carrier's insurance cover my truck?
The carrier's liability policy is there to protect the public while you operate under the lease. It generally does not pay to repair your own truck. That is physical damage coverage, and the lease usually leaves it to you.
How much does owner operator insurance cost?
Progressive Commercial reports that its national average monthly cost for commercial truck insurance in 2025 ranged from $734 for specialty truckers to $926 for transport truckers, per power unit, for new policies with liability and physical damage and no driver violations. A leased owner operator generally buys less coverage than one with their own authority. Your price depends on authority, limits, cargo, radius, equipment, driving history, and location.
Is occupational accident insurance the same as workers compensation?
No. Occupational accident is a separate policy that helps pay medical bills and replace part of lost income after a work injury. It is not workers compensation and does not carry the same benefits. State law decides when workers compensation is required, so ask before you rely on one in place of the other.
Can a carrier deduct insurance from my settlement?
Only as the lease spells out. Federal leasing rules require the lease to say who is responsible for each coverage and to state when cargo or property damage can be deducted from your settlement. If you buy coverage through the carrier, you can ask for a copy of each policy, and the carrier must give you a certificate of insurance for it.
Is Pro Insurance Group an insurance company?
No. Pro Insurance Group is an independent insurance agency, not an insurance carrier. We work for the owner operator, take the account to the carriers that write it, and place the policy with the company that fits. We write trucking accounts in Illinois and 40+ states.
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Reviewed by Neal Fusco, VP Commercial Lines
25 years in insurance, including 16 at Zurich North America in workers' compensation managed care and claims.
Illinois licensed insurance producer #18515626