TL;DR: Georgia's intrastate floors are $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident over 10,000 pounds, with passenger configurations at $500,000 and hazmat at federal amounts. Interstate work follows federal tiers. The state's nation-leading verdict severity makes the $1,000,000 broker standard a floor and excess layers standard practice.
What liability limits does Georgia require for trucks?
| Layer | Operation | Minimum |
|---|---|---|
| DPS GIMC, intrastate for-hire | Property, over 10,000 lbs | 100/300 BI plus property damage |
| Passenger, 12 or more | $500,000 | |
| Hazmat, any layer | By commodity | $1,000,000 / $5,000,000 federal |
| Federal, interstate | General freight, 10,001 lbs and up | $750,000 |
| Hazmat | $1,000,000 / $5,000,000 | |
| Registration, light vehicles | Passenger rules | 25/50/25 |
How do Georgia's floors compare to its courtrooms?
They inhabit different centuries. The 100/300 filing floors date from an era of modest claim values; Georgia's modern trucking dockets produce awards measured in tens and occasionally hundreds of millions, the verdicts that made the state a national tort-reform battleground. No operating carrier's protection question is answered by the floors: the analysis starts at the $1,000,000 broker standard and proceeds immediately to how much excess the operation's assets and exposure justify, because Georgia is the state where the difference between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000 in limits has decided companies' survival.
What do working Georgia carriers carry?
$1,000,000 combined single limit as the entry point, clearing filings and contracts, with excess towers unusually standard: fleets with assets commonly carry $2,000,000 to $5,000,000 or more in total limits, and the excess market prices Georgia's severity into every layer. Cargo runs at the $100,000 contract standard with theft terms for Atlanta-corridor freight. Hazmat matches federal tiers exactly. The buying pattern reflects the environment: in most states excess is a large-fleet product, in Georgia it is a mid-fleet staple.
How does the verdict environment actually work?
Through infrastructure: Georgia's plaintiff bar invests in trucking litigation, reptile-theory trial practice matured here, and Atlanta juries have rewarded it, with the results publicized enough to shape settlement values statewide, every claim negotiates in the shadow of the last headline verdict. Recent tort-reform legislation adjusted some rules of the road; its effects will arrive through case results over years, and insurers price observed outcomes, not statutes. For carriers the operational answers are unchanged: limits sized honestly, cameras on everything, driver files kept defensible, and claims handled fast and documented.
What about the passenger floor and light vehicles?
The $500,000 passenger requirement at twelve-plus capacity reflects busing's concentrated severity and gates that category's registration. Light vehicles below 10,000 pounds ride on registration minimums and contracts intrastate, with the federal $750,000 arriving at 10,001 pounds for interstate work, the standard gap that catches box trucks and hotshots between thresholds. Brokered freight requires $1,000,000 from everyone regardless.
Where are current numbers verified?
DPS's GIMC materials for the state floors, 49 CFR 387.9 for the federal tiers, and the Office of Commissioner of Insurance, (404) 656-2070, for policy questions. The floors are stable; the verdict environment is the moving part, and it moves through case results the trade press covers thoroughly, which makes following the coverage part of running a Georgia fleet responsibly.
Real questions Georgia owner-operators and fleet managers ask
What is the minimum insurance for a semi in Georgia?
For intrastate registration, the 100/300 floors plus property damage; for interstate work, $750,000 federally; for booking freight, $1,000,000 by contract. For protecting a business in Georgia's verdict environment, meaningfully more, sized to assets and exposure.
Why is excess coverage so common in Georgia?
Because the state's trucking verdicts lead the nation, and a $1,000,000 primary meets its limits early in a catastrophic Atlanta case. Mid-size fleets carry excess here that only large fleets carry elsewhere, and the market prices the reason.
Did Georgia's tort reform lower required limits?
No requirements changed, and any pricing effects arrive through future case results rather than statute text. Insurers price observed outcomes; carriers should size limits to the environment as it demonstrably is.
What do Georgia passenger operations need?
$500,000 at twelve-plus capacity under the DPS rules, with larger operations carrying more as contracts and federal passenger rules require. The floor reflects busing's concentrated severity.
Do Georgia hazmat haulers follow state or federal amounts?
Federal: $1,000,000 for oil and listed materials, $5,000,000 for bulk high-hazard classes, for intrastate bulk operations the federal rules reach as well as interstate work. The commodity's classification sets the tier.
Can Morrow write trucking insurance in Georgia?
Not directly today. Morrow is the brand name of Afthonea Inc, licensed in Massachusetts, Florida, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Texas. If your trucking company is based in Georgia, we can refer you to a licensed Georgia agent, and this guide still shows you exactly what to ask that agent for. Everything above comes from public Georgia and federal sources, not from us selling you a policy.
Related Georgia trucking guides
The other Georgia trucking questions, answered the same way.
- Trucking insurance in Georgia (start here)
- Trucking insurance requirements
- Intrastate authority and filings
- Cost of trucking insurance
- Business insurance in Georgia
- Federal minimum liability limits by commodity
- What is an MCS-90 endorsement?
- Federal minimum liability limits by commodity
- Commercial auto for trucking fleets
This guide is general information, not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Limits, forms, and deadlines change, so verify current requirements with the Georgia Department of Public Safety and the Office of Commissioner of Insurance before you rely on them. Morrow is a brand name of Afthonea Inc. Last updated: July 2026.