TL;DR: The LPSC floors are $250,000 per person and $500,000 per occurrence bodily injury with $10,000 property damage, below the federal $750,000 and far below what Louisiana's direct-action environment makes prudent. The $1,000,000 broker standard functions as an entry stake, with excess layers standard for any fleet with assets.
What liability limits does Louisiana require for trucks?
| Layer | Coverage | Minimum |
|---|---|---|
| LPSC floors, intrastate for-hire | Bodily injury, per person | $250,000 |
| Bodily injury, per occurrence | $500,000 | |
| Property damage | $10,000 | |
| Mover cargo | Household goods | $50,000 per truck / $100,000 catastrophe |
| Federal, interstate | General freight, 10,001 lbs and up | $750,000 |
| Hazmat by commodity | $1,000,000 / $5,000,000 | |
| Registration, light vehicles | Passenger rules | 15/30/25 |
Why do the floors matter so little here?
Because Louisiana's environment prices claims beyond any floor's contemplation: the direct-action statute puts insurers in the caption, attorney involvement runs at national highs, and settlement values reflect a culture that treats commercial defendants generously, all of which made the state's commercial auto the country's most expensive and its insurer field the thinnest. The 250/500/10 floors gate the certificate; the environment gates survival, and it does so at numbers the floors cannot see.
What do working Louisiana carriers carry?
$1,000,000 combined single limit as the entry stake, with excess layers standard for fleets with assets and often demanded by the shippers and petrochemical primes that anchor the state's freight, whose contract towers reflect the environment they operate in. Cargo runs at the $100,000 standard, physical damage carries hurricane strategy, and hazmat work along the corridor matches federal tiers with pollution coverage underwritten seriously. The sizing conversation in Louisiana starts where other states' conversations end.
How does the direct-action statute change the analysis?
By making insurer and insured co-defendants in practice: injured parties sue the insurer directly, the insurer's exposure is immediate rather than derivative, and the carrier's documentation quality becomes part of the insurer's defense posture from the first notice. The consequences for limits: insurers underwrite Louisiana accounts to survive litigation, not just pay claims, and carriers whose cameras, driver files, and protocols make them defensible get access and terms the rest cannot buy at any limit.
What about the petrochemical corridor's requirements?
The corridor's primes and plants set contract insurance schedules that exceed every floor, often specifying towers, pollution coverage, and endorsements as conditions of the gate, and the tanker work itself carries federal hazmat tiers as the legal baseline. Corridor carriers size to the contracts and the consequence severity, with the environment's litigation dynamics multiplying both. It is specialty work in a specialty state, priced accordingly.
Where are current numbers verified?
The LPSC's orders and dockets for the commission floors, 49 CFR 387.9 for the federal tiers, and the Department of Insurance, 1-800-259-5300, for policy questions. The floors are stable; the environment moves through case results and reform efforts, and the contract layer, as everywhere, outranks the statute whenever a required limit is in question. Operators who size to Louisiana's real claim shapes rarely revisit the question until the fleet itself changes. The honest Louisiana summary: the floors are paperwork, the environment is the requirement, and the operators who size and document for the environment are the ones the thin market keeps. Everything else follows from that ordering.
Real questions Louisiana owner-operators and fleet managers ask
What is the minimum insurance for a semi in Louisiana?
The LPSC floors of 250/500/10 for the certificate, $750,000 federally for interstate work, and $1,000,000 by contract, which the environment makes an entry stake with excess standard above it.
Why do Louisiana fleets carry more excess than other states?
The direct-action environment prices catastrophic claims at national highs, shipper and petrochemical contracts specify towers, and the thin insurer market underwrites for litigation survival. Excess sizing follows the environment, not the floors.
What does the direct-action statute mean for my limits?
Insurers are sued directly and underwrite accordingly: defensible carriers with cameras and documentation get access and terms, and limits are sized knowing the insurer stands in the caption from day one.
What do petrochemical corridor haulers need?
Federal hazmat tiers as the baseline, pollution coverage underwritten seriously, and the contract schedules the corridor's primes specify, often including towers and endorsements as gate conditions. It is specialty work priced for its consequence severity.
Are Louisiana's floors ever going up?
Reform debates continue alongside the broader environment discussions, and the floors have held while the real action stays in the contract and litigation layers. Verify current orders with the LPSC, and size to the environment regardless.
Can Morrow write trucking insurance in Louisiana?
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 Louisiana, we can refer you to a licensed Louisiana agent, and this guide still shows you exactly what to ask that agent for. Everything above comes from public Louisiana and federal sources, not from us selling you a policy.
Related Louisiana trucking guides
The other Louisiana trucking questions, answered the same way.
- Trucking insurance in Louisiana (start here)
- Trucking insurance requirements
- Intrastate authority and filings
- Cost of trucking insurance
- Business insurance in Louisiana
- 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 Louisiana Public Service Commission and the Louisiana Department of Insurance before you rely on them. Morrow is a brand name of Afthonea Inc. Last updated: July 2026.