The number most people hear after a truck crash is $750,000. It is real, it comes from a regulation, and it is also widely misunderstood in both directions.
What the regulation says
A for-hire motor carrier operating in interstate commerce, with a vehicle rated at 10,001 pounds GVWR or more, hauling non-hazardous property, must maintain at least $750,000 in public liability coverage.
| Carriage | Minimum |
|---|---|
| For-hire, non-hazardous property, 10,001 lbs GVWR or more | $750,000 |
| Oil and listed hazardous materials | $1,000,000 |
| Listed hazardous materials in bulk, or certain Class 7 quantities | $5,000,000 |
Source: 49 CFR § 387.9, Table 1.
Three things the minimum does not tell you
1. It is a floor, not the market. Shippers, brokers and equipment lessors routinely require $1,000,000 as a contract term. A carrier hauling for a large retailer is usually insured well above the federal minimum — because the contract says so, not because the regulation does.
2. It does not cover your claim twice. The policy limit is the total available for the crash, not per claimant. If three people are seriously injured, they are dividing one limit.
3. It does not tell you the carrier’s real exposure. A single tractor-trailer can cause catastrophic injury that exceeds $750,000 comfortably. That is when the question becomes: what else is available?
Where the rest of the money comes from
In a serious truck case the coverage stack can include:
- the carrier’s liability policy
- the broker’s or shipper’s coverage, if they were involved in the selection or the load
- the driver’s personal policy, in some circumstances
- your own UM/UIM coverage, if the carrier’s policy is exhausted or disputed
- the carrier’s cargo and excess policies, depending on the facts
Which of those exist is a factual question answered by insurance disclosure requests and, if necessary, by litigation.
The practical version
The minimum matters because it sets the baseline you should assume is there. It does not cap what a case is worth, and it does not tell you what is actually collectable.
The question worth asking early is not “how much insurance do they have?” but “is there more than one policy that responds?”