The insurance a carrier must prove it holds doesn't cover your car. Cargo insurance is the coverage a motor carrier holds on the vehicle it's hauling, not the truck, the driver, or anyone else on the road.
Cargo insurance belongs to the trucking company hauling your car. You aren't the policyholder and you didn't pick the insurer. Your vehicle is covered as freight, described on the paperwork by make, model and the condition recorded at pickup.
Also called
auto transport insurance, carrier insurance coverage, car shipping insurance, cargo coverage
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Why cargo insurance matters when you ship a car
The only coverage in a car shipment actually written on your vehicle is cargo insurance, and it is not the coverage federal law makes a motor carrier prove it holds. 49 CFR 387.7(a) bars a motor carrier from operating until it holds the minimum financial responsibility levels set in 49 CFR 387.9. Those levels cover public liability for bodily injury or property damage, not your car. The schedule in 49 CFR 387.9 sets $750,000 for a for-hire carrier moving nonhazardous property in a vehicle rated at 10,001 pounds or more, a figure about protecting other people on the road, not about your vehicle.(49 CFR 387.9 — Checked )
If someone answers your insurance question with that $750,000 number, they've answered a different question.(49 CFR 387.9 — Checked ) Ask for the cargo policy by name.
What cargo insurance covers on a shipped vehicle
Cargo insurance pays for loss of or damage to whatever the carrier accepted for transportation, which on your shipment is the vehicle described on the paperwork. 49 U.S.C. 14706(a)(1) requires a carrier to issue a receipt or bill of lading for property it receives, and makes the receiving carrier and the delivering carrier liable to whoever's entitled to recover under that document for actual loss or injury.
Liability and insurance are separate. The statute and the bill of lading settle what a carrier owes, and the cargo policy settles what actually gets paid and up to what limit.
What cargo insurance does not cover on a car shipment
Cargo insurance is written on the vehicle named on the paperwork, so anything you loaded inside the car sits outside what the policy covers. Personal effects belong to a different regulated service: 49 CFR 375.103 defines household goods as personal effects or property used in a dwelling, carried by a household goods motor carrier.
A car hauler isn't providing that service, so agree with the carrier before pickup on what you can leave in the trunk, and don't assume it's covered. If weather damages an open-trailer shipment, whether you're covered comes down to the policy wording. See acts of God exclusion.
What federal rules require of cargo insurance
Federal rules in 49 CFR Part 387 set a cargo insurance minimum for household goods motor carriers, and nobody else. 49 CFR 387.301T requires a household goods motor carrier to file security in the amounts set by 49 CFR 387.303T, whose paragraph (c) sets $5,000 for loss of or damage to household goods on any one motor vehicle and $10,000 for losses at any one time and place.(49 CFR 387.303T — Checked ) No other paragraph of 49 CFR 387.303T sets a cargo minimum for any other kind of load, including yours.
Your car hauler's cargo limit comes from that carrier's own insurance contract, not a federal floor. Ask for the certificate of insurance belonging to the company that will physically haul your vehicle, and read the limit stated per vehicle before any claims process starts.
Which cargo insurance sections of 49 CFR Part 387 are suspended
Three sections of 49 CFR Part 387 that deal with cargo insurance are suspended, not in force: 387.301, 387.303 and 387.313. All three were suspended at 82 FR 5307, January 17 2017, effective January 14 2017. Temporary sections, 49 CFR 387.301T and 49 CFR 387.303T, were added in their place.
Section
What it sets
Status read September 2026
49 CFR 387.5, 387.7, 387.9
public liability minimums, including $750,000 for nonhazardous property(49 CFR 387.9 — Checked )
operative
49 CFR 387.301
filing of security, including cargo security by household goods motor carriers
suspended, 82 FR 5307, January 17 2017
49 CFR 387.301T
the operative replacement for 387.301
operative
49 CFR 387.303
minimum limits, including the household goods cargo limits
suspended indefinitely, 84 FR 51433, September 30 2019
49 CFR 387.303T
the operative replacement for 387.303
operative
49 CFR 387.313
forms and procedures for cargo liability filings
suspended indefinitely, 84 FR 51434, September 30 2019
A suspended section is not removed. It still prints in full, so a page can quote it accurately while describing a rule that isn't in force.
Cargo insurance vs a personal auto policy
Cargo insurance is bought by the motor carrier and written on the property it hauls, while a personal auto policy is bought by the vehicle owner and written on the owner's own vehicle.
Cargo insurance
Personal auto policy
Who buys it
The motor carrier that hauls the vehicle
The vehicle owner
What it is written on
The property the carrier received for transportation
The insured's own vehicle and use of it
Where the underlying duty comes from
Carrier liability under the receipt or bill of lading, 49 U.S.C. 14706
The policy contract and state insurance law
Who makes the claim
The person entitled to recover under the bill of lading
The named insured
Who sets the limit
The carrier's own policy
The policy the owner bought
The federal rules cited here were written for freight in general, and the only cargo limits federal law states are for household goods. Your car shipment borrows its rules from freight law and its actual limit from a private contract.
Frequently asked questions about cargo insurance
Does cargo insurance cover items left inside the car?
Cargo insurance is written on the vehicle a carrier accepted for transportation, not what's inside it. Personal effects fall under the household goods definition in 49 CFR 375.103 instead. Ask the carrier in writing, before pickup, what it will and won't accept inside.
Is cargo insurance the same as the insurance a truck must carry by law?
No. 49 CFR 387.7 and 49 CFR 387.9 require a motor carrier to hold minimum public liability coverage, for bodily injury or property damage to other people. Cargo insurance is a separate policy covering your vehicle.
How much cargo insurance must a car carrier have?
Federal rules set no cargo minimum for hauling a passenger vehicle. The one operative cargo provision, 49 CFR 387.303T(c), applies to household goods motor carriers, and 49 CFR 387.303 is suspended indefinitely. Your car hauler's limit comes from its own policy, so ask for it.
Does a personal auto policy cover a car while it is being shipped?
That depends entirely on your policy's wording. Call your insurer directly and name the exact situation: your car in the care of a commercial carrier.
Sources and last checked
Supports
A motor carrier may not operate a vehicle until it holds the minimum levels of financial responsibility set in 49 CFR 387.9, and proof is kept at the principal place of business as a Form MCS-90 endorsement, a Form MCS-82 surety bond, or written FMCSA authorization to self-insure. Effective Date Notes read September 2026: no suspension, stay or delay is noted. Operative.
Definitions of financial responsibility, public liability, property damage and bodily injury. Public liability is liability for bodily injury or property damage. Operative.
The schedule of limits for public liability sets 750,000 dollars for a for-hire carrier in interstate or foreign commerce transporting nonhazardous property in a vehicle rated at 10,001 pounds or more. Effective Date Notes read September 2026: amended most recently at 91 FR 45660, July 21 2026, with no suspension noted. Operative.
STATUS FINDING, NOT RELIED ON AS BINDING LAW. The Effective Date Note printed below the section states that at 82 FR 5307, January 17 2017, 49 CFR 387.301 was suspended, effective January 14 2017. SUSPENDED.
STATUS FINDING, NOT RELIED ON AS BINDING LAW. The Effective Date Notes state that the section was suspended at 82 FR 5307, January 17 2017, effective January 14 2017, and that at 84 FR 51433, September 30 2019, the suspension was lifted, the section was amended, and the section was suspended indefinitely again in the same document. SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY.
STATUS FINDING, NOT RELIED ON AS BINDING LAW. The Effective Date Notes state that the section was suspended at 82 FR 5308, January 17 2017, effective January 14 2017, and that at 84 FR 51434, September 30 2019, the suspension was lifted, the section was amended, and the section was suspended indefinitely again in the same document. SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY.
Cross-confirmation of the suspensions on a second independent host. The final rule Unified Registration System; Suspension of Effectiveness, effective January 14 2017, suspends 49 CFR 387.19, 387.33, 387.43, 387.301, 387.303, 387.313, 387.323, 387.403, 387.413 and 387.419, and adds temporary sections carrying a T suffix, including 387.301T and 387.303T, that reinstate the requirements in effect on January 13 2017.
Cross-confirmation on a second independent host of the September 30 2019 action. The amendatory instructions on page 51433 direct that the suspension of 49 CFR 387.303 be lifted, that paragraph (b)(2)(iii) be revised, and that 387.303 be suspended indefinitely; and that the suspension of 49 CFR 387.313 be lifted, that paragraph (f) be removed, and that 387.313 be suspended indefinitely.
The temporary section that replaced 387.301. Household goods motor carriers must file surety bonds, certificates of insurance, proof of self-insurance or other securities in the amounts prescribed in 49 CFR 387.303T. Effective Date Notes read September 2026: no suspension noted. Operative.
The temporary section that replaced 387.303. Paragraph (c), headed household goods motor carriers, sets 5,000 dollars for loss of or damage to household goods carried on any one motor vehicle and 10,000 dollars for losses at any one time and place. No other paragraph of the section sets a cargo minimum for any other kind of load. Effective Date Notes read September 2026: no suspension noted. Operative.
Definitions of household goods, household goods motor carrier and individual shipper. Household goods are personal effects or property used in a dwelling. Part 375 governs household goods transportation, not the transportation of a passenger vehicle as freight.
A carrier must issue a receipt or bill of lading for property it receives, and the receiving and delivering carriers are liable to the person entitled to recover under that document for actual loss or injury to the property.
