Leased on to a motor carrier, their primary liability covers you under their dispatch and their filings satisfy the federal requirement — you buy only the gaps: non-trucking liability, physical damage on your truck, and either occupational accident coverage or workers' compensation. On your own authority you carry the entire package, typically $1,700 to $2,500 per month interstate or $1,300 to $2,000 intrastate in the first year, and every filing sits under your own DOT number.
What does the motor carrier's insurance cover while you are leased on?
Their primary auto liability covers the truck while it operates under their authority and dispatch, and their FMCSA filing satisfies the federal minimum for the load. Their cargo policy usually covers freight moving under their bills of lading, subject to their limits and deductible.
That is regulatory, not courteous. Under 49 CFR §376.12, a lease of equipment to an authorized carrier must give that carrier exclusive possession, control, and use for the duration, and it must specify who provides insurance on the equipment and what may be deducted from your settlement. Read those two clauses before the rate per mile.
What their policy does not cover matters just as much: you off dispatch, physical damage to your own tractor, your own injuries, and personal use. It also stops when the lease ends — the day you unhook, that protection is no longer behind you.
What does a leased-on owner-operator still have to buy?
Three things minimum: non-trucking liability (bobtail), physical damage on your tractor, and either occupational accident coverage or workers' compensation. Most carriers require proof of all three, and many deduct them from your settlement instead.
- Non-trucking liability — coverage while the truck is not under dispatch: driving home, running to the shop, personal use. Narrow by design, and not a substitute for primary liability.
- Physical damage — collision and comprehensive on your tractor at stated value, deductibles commonly $1,000 to $2,500. With a lienholder, not optional.
- Occupational accident vs. workers' compensation — occ/acc is an accident and disability product with scheduled limits, written for independent contractors. Workers' compensation is statutory, with different benefits and legal consequences. Which applies depends on classification, and California rules are strict enough that this belongs in a conversation, not a guess.
- Optional but common — deductible buyback, downtime coverage, and non-owned trailer physical damage.
The line that catches people is the deduction schedule. A carrier that "provides" insurance is usually charging you weekly, rarely itemized unless you ask. Ask.
What changes when you get your own authority?
Everything moves onto you: primary auto liability at the federal filing level, cargo, physical damage, trailer interchange, and the filings themselves. First-year pricing typically runs $1,700 to $2,500 per month interstate or $1,300 to $2,000 per month intrastate-only.
Know the filing mechanics before you commit. Under 49 CFR §387.9, an interstate for-hire carrier hauling non-hazardous general freight must maintain at least $750,000 in public liability coverage, evidenced to FMCSA on a BMC-91 or BMC-91X filing with an MCS-90 endorsement attached to the policy. Most brokers and shippers then require a $1,000,000 combined single limit by contract. And a newly registered carrier holds new-entrant status, including an FMCSA safety audit within the first 12 months of operation.
You also inherit the administration: certificates for every broker, annual renewals, and never letting the policy lapse, because a cancellation notice goes to FMCSA and your authority can go inactive behind it.
Leased on vs. own authority: total insurance burden and control
Leased on, your out-of-pocket cost is lower but you control none of it. On your own authority it is higher, and every dollar builds a record that belongs to you. Side by side:
- Who files with FMCSA — the carrier under their MC number, versus you filing BMC-91X under yours.
- What you pay — weekly settlement deductions for bobtail, physical damage, occ/acc, and often a share of their liability and cargo cost, versus a first-year package at $1,700 to $2,500 per month interstate or $1,300 to $2,000 intrastate.
- Whose loss record grows — theirs. Clean years under someone else's authority do little for your own pricing later.
- Who sets limits and deductibles — their program, take it or leave it, versus your own choice of cargo limit, deductible, and liability limit.
- What happens if it ends — leased on, your coverage ends with the lease. On your own authority, the policy, the filings, and the history follow you.
Leased on, you are renting someone else's compliance record; on your own authority, you are building one you can take with you.
Run the math on annual dollars, not the monthly headline. Total a year of settlement deductions, add what you already pay for bobtail and physical damage, then set that against a full-package proposal. The gap is usually smaller than owner-operators expect, and it shrinks again at the first clean renewal, when rates typically drop 20% to 40% after 12 to 24 months of clean operation.
How do you switch from leased on to your own authority without a coverage gap?
Bind your own policy effective before you release from the lease, get the filings transmitted, and confirm your authority shows active before hauling the first load under it. The risk lives in the days between, and that gap is what pulls authorities.
- Start two to three weeks out. Filings transmit electronically, but underwriting a new authority is not instant.
- Do not surrender the carrier's plates, permits, or lease until your authority is confirmed active and your filings are on file.
- Convert, do not cancel. Physical damage can often move onto the new package rather than be dropped and rewritten, and your lienholder needs continuous evidence.
- Replace occ/acc deliberately. When the lease ends, so does the carrier's program — decide what replaces it before the last settlement.
- Keep every certificate. Brokers ask on the first load, and a clean paper trail earns the renewal drop.
Insurance City is at 956 W. Robinhood Drive, Stockton, CA 95207, and most commercial trucking policies are quoted and bound by phone. Call (209) 670-1556 with your lease agreement, settlement statements, and unit information, and we will price the own-authority package against what the lease already costs you. We place the risk with our commercial carriers, and there are no broker fees on standard policies. Insurance City’s parent operation serves 4,500+ active customers across three California offices and wrote 2,080 new policies in 2025.
Frequently asked questions
Does the motor carrier's insurance cover me while I am leased on?
Their primary auto liability covers the truck under their authority and dispatch, and their FMCSA filing satisfies the federal requirement for those loads. It does not cover you off dispatch, physical damage to your tractor, or your injuries, and it ends with the lease.
What insurance does a leased-on owner-operator have to carry?
Typically non-trucking liability for time off dispatch, physical damage on your tractor at stated value, and either occupational accident coverage or workers' compensation depending on classification. Many carriers offer these through their own program and deduct the cost weekly.
How much more does insurance cost with my own authority?
A full first-year package typically runs $1,700 to $2,500 per month interstate or $1,300 to $2,000 intrastate-only, against the settlement deductions you already pay leased on. Compare annual totals, and rates typically drop 20% to 40% after 12 to 24 clean months.
How do I switch from leased on to my own authority without losing coverage?
Bind your own policy effective before the lease release, have the BMC-91X filing transmitted, and confirm the authority is active before hauling under it. Do not surrender plates or permits until the filings are on file.
Related reading:
- New authority trucking insurance in California
- What an MCS-90 is and whether your operation needs it
- Cargo insurance explained for owner-operators
- Owner-operator trucking insurance in Stockton, CA
Insurance City Agency — 956 W. Robinhood Drive, Stockton, CA 95207 — (209) 670-1556. CA License #6003045.