What shippers and corporate clients require of carriers and couriers: transportation agreement insurance clauses and how to prove you meet them

What a shipper requires of a delivery or trucking company

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A shipper's transportation or courier agreement typically requires commercial auto liability of $1M combined single limit, more with an umbrella for dedicated or hazardous freight, motor truck cargo coverage of $100K per vehicle or more with no exclusion for the commodity hauled, general liability of $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate with the shipper as additional insured, statutory workers' compensation with $1M employers' liability, the MCS-90 where required, and certificates on file before the first dispatch.

Reviewed by Michael LaBarbera, Licensed property & casualty agent, Provident Financial Group · Reviewed Oct 11, 2026 Updated Oct 14, 2026

Typical requirements and how to check them
Requirement	What they usually ask for	How to check what you have
Commercial auto liability	$1M combined single limit as the floor for most freight and courier work, with higher limits or an umbrella for dedicated fleets, hazardous materials and high-value lanes; the shipper as additional insured where the state and form allow	Auto dec page symbol and limit, the vehicles scheduled, and whether hired and non-owned coverage includes owner-operators you use.
Motor truck cargo	$100K per vehicle or per load as a floor, $250K or more for electronics, pharmaceuticals and food, written without exclusions for the commodities in the agreement and with reefer breakdown where temperature matters	Cargo dec page limit, the commodity exclusions and the reefer breakdown endorsement; theft from unattended vehicles is a common sub-limit to read.
Commercial general liability	$1M each occurrence / $2M aggregate with the shipper as additional insured for operations on the shipper's docks and premises	Dec page limits and the additional insured form; general liability does not cover the cargo or the vehicles.
Workers' compensation and employers' liability	Statutory in each state where drivers are based plus employers' liability of $1M / $1M / $1M; occupational accident coverage is not accepted as a substitute for employee drivers	Information page with each state and Part Two limits; owner-operators' occupational accident policies where the agreement allows them.
Umbrella or excess liability	$1M to $5M following form over auto, general liability and employers' liability, standard for dedicated contracts and anything near a federal filing threshold	Umbrella dec page and underlying schedule, confirming it sits over the auto policy.
Federal and state filings	MCS-90 endorsement and BMC-91 filing for for-hire interstate carriers, with the federal minimum of $750K or $5M by commodity; state filings for intrastate authority	The MCS-90 endorsement on the auto policy and the filing confirmation; the agreement's limit usually exceeds the federal minimum.
Owner-operators and brokered loads	Evidence that leased owner-operators are covered under your auto and cargo policies or carry their own at the agreement's limits; contingent cargo and contingent auto where you broker loads	Lease agreements with owner-operators, their certificates, and the contingent coverage dec pages where you broker.
Certificates and dispatch	Certificates on file before the first load, renewed at each policy renewal, with notice of cancellation; many shippers verify through a carrier-compliance service	A live certificate accepted by the compliance service; the official PDF attached.

Requirement

What they usually ask for

How to check what you have

Commercial auto liability

$1M combined single limit as the floor for most freight and courier work, with higher limits or an umbrella for dedicated fleets, hazardous materials and high-value lanes; the shipper as additional insured where the state and form allow

Auto dec page symbol and limit, the vehicles scheduled, and whether hired and non-owned coverage includes owner-operators you use.

Motor truck cargo

$100K per vehicle or per load as a floor, $250K or more for electronics, pharmaceuticals and food, written without exclusions for the commodities in the agreement and with reefer breakdown where temperature matters

Cargo dec page limit, the commodity exclusions and the reefer breakdown endorsement; theft from unattended vehicles is a common sub-limit to read.

Commercial general liability

$1M each occurrence / $2M aggregate with the shipper as additional insured for operations on the shipper's docks and premises

Dec page limits and the additional insured form; general liability does not cover the cargo or the vehicles.

Workers' compensation and employers' liability

Statutory in each state where drivers are based plus employers' liability of $1M / $1M / $1M; occupational accident coverage is not accepted as a substitute for employee drivers

Information page with each state and Part Two limits; owner-operators' occupational accident policies where the agreement allows them.

Umbrella or excess liability

$1M to $5M following form over auto, general liability and employers' liability, standard for dedicated contracts and anything near a federal filing threshold

Umbrella dec page and underlying schedule, confirming it sits over the auto policy.

Federal and state filings

MCS-90 endorsement and BMC-91 filing for for-hire interstate carriers, with the federal minimum of $750K or $5M by commodity; state filings for intrastate authority

The MCS-90 endorsement on the auto policy and the filing confirmation; the agreement's limit usually exceeds the federal minimum.

Owner-operators and brokered loads

Evidence that leased owner-operators are covered under your auto and cargo policies or carry their own at the agreement's limits; contingent cargo and contingent auto where you broker loads

Lease agreements with owner-operators, their certificates, and the contingent coverage dec pages where you broker.

Certificates and dispatch

Certificates on file before the first load, renewed at each policy renewal, with notice of cancellation; many shippers verify through a carrier-compliance service

A live certificate accepted by the compliance service; the official PDF attached.

What the shipper is protecting

A shipper hands its goods and its name to the carrier. The transportation agreement protects it from a crash involving its freight, from loss of the cargo, from injury on its docks, from a driver's injury becoming its claim, and from the regulatory consequences of using a carrier without proper authority. Compliance services verify the exhibit before dispatch and at every renewal.

The lines a transportation agreement names

Auto liability at the shipper's limit, above the federal minimum. Cargo sized to the most valuable load with the commodity and reefer wording to match. General liability with the shipper added for dock operations. Workers' compensation for employee drivers. An umbrella over the auto policy. The MCS-90 and filings where authority requires them. Owner-operator and brokered-load coverage where the business model uses them. And certificates on file before the first load.

How to check your policies against the agreement

Match the auto limit and the vehicles scheduled. Read the cargo policy's limit, commodity exclusions, theft sub-limits and reefer endorsement against the lanes in the agreement. Confirm general liability's additional insured form, the workers' compensation states, the umbrella schedule over auto, the MCS-90 where it applies, and the owner-operator lease and certificate arrangements. Upload the certificate to the shipper's compliance service.

Keep the certificate current

Shippers and their compliance services expire certificates at renewal and stop tendering loads the same day. A live certificate link stays current as policies renew, shows the cargo and auto lines, and notifies the shipper when a line changes, with the official PDF attached.

Questions people actually ask

Why does the shipper ask for cargo coverage far above the value of a typical load?

Because the limit is set to the most valuable load on the lane, not the average, and because cargo policies carry theft and commodity sub-limits that reduce what is actually paid. Read the exhibit for the per-load figure and the cargo policy for its sub-limits.

Is occupational accident coverage enough for our drivers?

For employee drivers, no: workers' compensation is statutory in every licensed state and shippers require it. Occupational accident policies are for genuine owner-operators where the agreement allows them.

What is the MCS-90 and does it change the limit the shipper wants?

It is the federal endorsement that guarantees the public is paid up to the federal minimum regardless of policy exclusions. Shippers usually require more than the federal minimum, so the MCS-90 is a filing condition rather than the limit you buy.

We use owner-operators under lease. Whose insurance does the shipper see?

Yours. Under a lease, the owner-operators run under your authority and your auto and cargo policies, with the trucks scheduled or covered as hired autos. The shipper's agreement looks at your certificate, not theirs.