How much insurance does a semi truck have to carry?

Last updated October 7, 2026.

A for-hire semi truck hauling ordinary freight across state lines must carry at least $750,000 in public liability coverage. The minimum rises to $1,000,000 for oil and most hazardous materials, and to $5,000,000 for certain bulk hazardous loads. A Nevada carrier that stays inside the state has its own floor of $300,000 or $750,000, depending on the truck's weight.

Compare that with Nevada's $25,000-per-person minimum for passenger cars. The gap is why the size of the policy is one of the first questions in a Las Vegas truck accident claim. The minimum is only a floor, though, and the right number depends on what the truck was carrying and who operated it.

How do you find out how much coverage the truck had?

You usually cannot read the limit off the truck. Here is how the coverage question gets answered after a crash in Clark County.

Get the crash report. It may list the truck's owner and the insurance information given at the scene. Our guide to getting a Las Vegas crash report explains how to request it.
Identify the motor carrier. The company operating the truck may not be the company that owns the trailer or the cargo. The federal SAFER Company Snapshot lets anyone search a carrier by USDOT number, MC number or company name, free of charge.
Work out which rule applies. Was the carrier hauling for hire across state lines, hauling its own goods, carrying hazardous materials, or working only inside Nevada? The answer decides the minimum, as the table below shows (49 CFR 387.3, 387.9; NAC 706.288).
Ask to see the proof of coverage. A carrier subject to the federal rules must keep proof of its required coverage at its principal place of business, and that proof is public information that must be produced for review on reasonable request by a member of the public (49 CFR 387.7). The proof is a Form MCS-90 insurance endorsement, a Form MCS-82 surety bond, or a federal order allowing the carrier to self-insure.
Open a claim with the carrier's insurer. Report the claim, get a claim number, and keep every letter. Nevada's claim-handling deadlines are covered in our page on how long an insurer has to respond to a claim in Nevada.
If a lawsuit is filed, the policies come out early. In a Nevada civil case, each side must disclose, without waiting to be asked, any insurance agreement that may pay all or part of a judgment, along with any coverage disclaimer or reservation of rights (NRCP 16.1). That is often when excess or umbrella layers above the minimum first appear.

What are the minimum insurance amounts for trucks?

The federal figures are minimum levels of public liability coverage, which covers bodily injury, property damage and environmental restoration (49 CFR 387.5, 387.9). The Nevada figures apply to many carriers that operate within the state.

Vehicle and load	Minimum coverage	Rule
Nevada passenger car or pickup, for comparison	$25,000 one person, $50,000 per crash for injuries, $20,000 property	NRS 485.185
Interstate for-hire truck, 10,001 pounds or more, nonhazardous freight	$750,000	49 CFR 387.9, row 1
For-hire or private truck, 10,001 pounds or more, oil or listed hazardous materials (interstate; intrastate in bulk only)	$1,000,000	49 CFR 387.9, row 3
For-hire or private truck, 10,001 pounds or more, certain hazardous substances in bulk tanks or hoppers, bulk explosives, some poison gases, or highway route controlled radioactive loads	$5,000,000	49 CFR 387.9, row 2
Vehicle under 10,001 pounds carrying certain explosives, poison gases or radioactive loads interstate	$5,000,000	49 CFR 387.9, row 4
Nevada carrier of property (other than a fully regulated carrier) or private motor carrier, freight only, 10,001 to 26,000 pounds	$300,000 per person, per crash and for property	NAC 706.288
Same Nevada carriers, 26,001 to 80,000 pounds	$750,000 per person, per crash and for property	NAC 706.288
Nevada carrier authorized to haul hazardous commodities	The federal limits in 49 CFR 387.303	NAC 706.288

Most ordinary vehicles under 10,001 pounds, such as many delivery vans, are outside the federal table entirely (49 CFR 387.3). For those, the Nevada car minimums or the company's own policy usually set the floor.

What changes the answer

For-hire or private. The $750,000 general freight figure applies to for-hire carriers, meaning companies paid to haul someone else's goods across state lines (49 CFR 387.3, 387.5). A company hauling its own nonhazardous goods interstate is not in that row of the federal table, so its minimum may come from somewhere else. The only way to know what it carried is to see the policy.

What was in the trailer. Hazardous cargo raises the minimum to $1,000,000 or $5,000,000, and the hazmat rows apply to private carriers too (49 CFR 387.3, 387.9). A hazmat crash also changes Nevada fault rules, because defendants can be jointly and severally liable for the spillage of a toxic or hazardous substance (NRS 41.141). Our page on what changes when a hazmat or tanker truck causes the crash goes further.

Interstate or local. Gravel trucks, construction haulers and local delivery fleets that never leave the state may fall under Nevada's own table, where a truck rated 10,001 to 26,000 pounds needs only $300,000 (NAC 706.288). If the federal minimum is ever raised above the Nevada figure, these Nevada carriers must carry at least the federal amount (NAC 706.288). See whether federal trucking rules apply to a Nevada company that never leaves the state.

How many people were hurt. The federal minimum is one figure for public liability, and property damage and cleanup costs also fall under that definition (49 CFR 387.5). In a crash with several injured people, everyone's claims may be drawing on the same coverage.

How many companies share responsibility. In Nevada, each defendant generally pays only its own percentage of fault (NRS 41.141). A crash may involve a driver, a carrier, a trailer owner, a maintenance shop or a loader, each with separate insurance. Our page on who can be held responsible for a truck accident in Nevada walks through each one.

Your own coverage. If the damages are larger than all the available liability coverage, your own underinsured motorist coverage may pay the difference, up to your limit (NRS 687B.145). That process is in our guide to an underinsured motorist claim in Nevada.

Coverage that was canceled. A required federal policy stays in effect until terminated, and cancellation takes 35 days' written notice from the insurer or the carrier (49 CFR 387.7). A policy that a carrier says "just lapsed" deserves a closer look at those dates.

For example: two trucks, two very different floors

Imagine a hypothetical driver named Teresa stopped in traffic on I-15 near Sloan when a tractor-trailer fails to stop and pushes her car into the vehicle ahead. Two other drivers are hurt. The truck belongs to a for-hire carrier from another state hauling packaged furniture, so the federal minimum is $750,000 in public liability coverage (49 CFR 387.9).

Suppose, for illustration only, that Teresa's medical bills and lost wages reach $180,000 and the other two drivers have similar claims. All three may be claiming against the same policy, and the trucking company's proof of coverage shows only the minimum. In this hypothetical, the case turns on whether there is excess coverage above the minimum, whether a second company (the shipper that loaded the trailer, say) shares fault, and how much underinsured motorist coverage each driver bought.

Now change one fact. The truck is a 20,000-pound dump truck working for a local paving company that never leaves Nevada. Under Nevada's table, the minimum is $300,000 (NAC 706.288), and the federal $750,000 row does not apply. The injuries are the same; the floor is less than half. That is why the first job in any truck case is to pin down exactly who operated the vehicle and what it was hauling.

Common mistakes about truck insurance

Assuming every truck has $750,000. That figure is for interstate for-hire carriers of general freight. Local, private and lighter trucks can have much lower floors.
Assuming the minimum is all there is. Carriers can buy more. Excess policies often surface only when they are requested or disclosed in a lawsuit (NRCP 16.1).
Dealing only with the driver's insurer. The driver, carrier, trailer owner and others may each have separate coverage. Our post on accidents involving commercial vehicles describes the parties you may be dealing with.
Settling with one insurer before knowing the full picture. A release may end claims you did not know you had. Find all coverage first.
Forgetting your own policy. Underinsured motorist coverage can matter even in a truck case when many people share one policy.
Waiting too long. An injury lawsuit in Nevada generally must be filed within 2 years (NRS 11.190), and some trucking records that help prove fault can be discarded in months.

What to do this week

Request the crash report and write down the carrier's name, USDOT number if shown, and the insurer listed.
Look up the carrier on the federal SAFER Company Snapshot to confirm its legal name and identifiers.
Send the carrier a written request to review its proof of financial responsibility under 49 CFR 387.7.
Pull your own auto policy's declarations page and note your underinsured motorist and medical payments limits.
Keep a running list of medical bills and missed work; it shows how close your losses come to the available coverage.
Ask the carrier, in writing, to keep its records; our page on what records a trucking company must keep after a crash lists what to name.

Frequently asked questions

Is the $750,000 per person or per crash?

The federal table sets one minimum amount of public liability coverage for the carrier, and it does not split it into per-person limits the way Nevada's car minimums do (49 CFR 387.9). How a given policy applies that amount depends on its terms, which is why getting the actual policy matters.

Does a box truck or delivery van have to carry $750,000?

Usually not. The federal rules do not apply to most vehicles rated under 10,001 pounds, and the $750,000 row is limited to for-hire interstate carriers (49 CFR 387.3). Our page on whether federal trucking law applies to a box truck or van explains the weight lines.

Can I see the trucking company's insurance before I sue?

You can ask to review its proof of required coverage, which the federal rules call public information to be produced on reasonable request (49 CFR 387.7). That proof shows the required coverage, not necessarily every excess policy. Full policies usually come through disclosure in a lawsuit (NRCP 16.1).

What if the trucking company had no insurance at all?

Operating without the required coverage is not allowed under 49 CFR 387.7, but it happens. Your own uninsured motorist coverage, other responsible companies and the carrier's own assets may be options; read what to do when the driver who hit you has no insurance.

Does the cargo owner's or broker's insurance pay?

Only if that company shares legal responsibility for the crash, for example by loading the trailer badly. The federal minimums apply to the motor carrier, not to the shipper. Whether another company is responsible depends on the facts.

Do bigger policies mean a bigger settlement?

Not by themselves. The coverage is a limit on what an insurer may pay, not a measure of what a claim is worth. What a claim is worth still depends on the injuries, the losses and the proof of fault.

If you were hurt by a semi or other commercial truck in Las Vegas and want to know what coverage may be behind it, attorney Maysoun Fletcher can look at your situation. Call 702-333-6339 for a free consultation.