Trucking insurance in Montana

Montana intrastate trucking insurance requirements and agency filings

If you haul intrastate, every load you pick up and deliver stays inside Montana, with no state line crossed. Some states run separate local registries, but Montana Motor Carrier Services has taken on the federal motor carrier rules for carriers working intrastate or interstate. The state agency takes your company details directly from your federal registration when setting up your new account.

All carriers, intrastate haulers included, must file biennial MCS-150 updates because Montana adopted the federal rules. Your company files the MCS-150, the standard federal form, to keep its basic contact details and its truck count current. Every 24 months you must send in the form, even if nothing has changed. You must also sign in at least every 90 days to the FMCSA Portal; otherwise your account may be deactivated. An insurance agent who works on truck registrations each week helps you keep your policy filings and state account in line.

Montana commercial truck insurance rules and proof of coverage

Montana state law sets minimums every policy must carry. It requires at least $25,000 for 1 person injured or killed, and $50,000 for 2 or more people hurt or killed in 1 accident. The property damage minimum is $20,000 for each accident. Under this minimum-limits law, insurers may not add a reduced limits endorsement to any policy issued under it.

Under the Montana Motor Vehicle Division definition, a commercial auto policy is coverage written on a commercial, garage, or truckers form. It is rated through a commercial manual or a rating rule. The Montana Insurance Verification System can't check commercially insured vehicles electronically. So your proof of insurance card typically shows 'fleet' or 'commercially insured'. Agents who write commercial trucks can get your policy issued on the right truckers form. That gives you the proper cab cards needed for roadside checks.

Do you need higher Montana trucking insurance limits to cross state lines?

Once your truck crosses a state line, federal insurance minimums that depend on vehicle weight and cargo start to apply. If you operate for-hire, you get paid to haul another person's freight, not freight of your own. Interstate carriers must carry anywhere from $300,000 to $5,000,000 in coverage under federal liability limits.

For your interstate authority to go active, your insurer must first submit proof of liability coverage to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The proof goes in on Form BMC-91 or BMC-91X, or as a BMC-82 bond instead. Your insurance company sends Form BMC-91 or BMC-91X to federal regulators; this electronic filing proves your liability coverage is active.

Often, meeting the legal minimum is only the 1st step toward getting loads booked. For instance, C.H. Robinson looks for $1,000,000 in auto liability plus $100,000 in cargo liability from carriers. An agent who understands freight broker rules helps you choose coverage limits that keep your load paperwork from being held up.

Montana truck policies: driving records and coverage rules

The Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance reports that insurers base commercial auto premiums on 5 years of your past driving record, not 3 years like personal auto policies. Uninsured motorist coverage has to be part of every policy, unless you sign a form turning it down in writing. A truck insurance agent helps you compare carrier options against your record, since insurers rate 5 years of driving history differently.

Questions people ask