TL;DR: Oklahoma's Corporation Commission sets $750,000 for unrestricted property carriers and $350,000 for restricted carriers hauling aggregates, forestry products, agricultural commodities, and livestock, applying the federal Part 387 minimums intrastate. Hazmat runs $1,000,000 to $5,000,000, and interstate loads carry federal floors regardless of state tier.
What is Oklahoma's liability schedule?
Two tiers with a federal backstop. Unrestricted property carriers, the general freight fleet, carry $750,000, the federal figure adopted into the commission's schedule. Restricted carriers, whose authority is confined to sand, rock, gravel, asphaltic mixtures, unprocessed forestry products, agricultural commodities, and ordinary livestock, carry $350,000, one of the few surviving state tiers below the federal number. The commission's rules apply the Part 387 minimums to intrastate operations generally, and hazmat freight carries the elevated federal categories, $1,000,000 for oil and most hazardous cargo, $5,000,000 for the highest-hazard classes.
Where did the restricted tier come from?
From the economics of the rural trades. Aggregates move short hauls at low speeds to local job sites, livestock and grain move seasonally from farms and ranches, and the commission's schedule prices their entry accordingly, half the general-freight floor for operations whose exposure profiles historically ran lighter. The tier survives because those trades still anchor rural Oklahoma, and it functions as intended when the commodity boundary is respected: a genuine gravel hauler at $350,000 is compliant, and a general freight operation hiding behind a restricted license is not.
How do the federal tiers interact?
They cap the state's discount at the border. Interstate operation over 10,001 pounds carries the federal $750,000 for general freight regardless of any state tier, so the restricted carrier whose cattle cross into Texas or whose grain moves to Kansas elevators needs the federal floor for those loads, evidenced by insurer filings with the FMCSA. Oklahoma's crossroads geography makes the boundary a working reality rather than a technicality, and the ag exemptions that ease federal operating rules never touch the insurance tiers.
| Operation | Minimum | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted property | $750,000 | OCC schedule |
| Restricted commodities | $350,000 | OCC schedule |
| Oil and most hazmat | $1,000,000 | Federal tiers |
| Highest-hazard cargo | $5,000,000 | Federal tiers |
| Interstate loads, any carrier | $750,000 | 49 CFR 387.9 |
Why buy above the tiers?
Because the tiers price entry, not catastrophe. A loaded belly-dump at highway speed or a cattle liner in a crosswind carries the same physics as any tractor-trailer, a serious crash's economic damages consume $350,000 in days, and everything above the limit comes from the business. Brokers and shippers require $1,000,000 for general freight, energy-sector master service agreements specify towers in the millions, and even the rural trades find their customers, co-ops, packers, and DOT contractors, increasingly writing insurance requirements into contracts. The moderate legal climate helps outcomes; it does not shrink them.
How should an Oklahoma carrier set limits?
Anchor at $1,000,000 for anything unrestricted, treat the restricted tier as an entry price rather than a target even within its commodities, and step the license and limits together before the freight mix grows. Energy work takes the MSA towers, hazmat takes the federal categories as floors, and interstate lanes take the federal floor regardless of state tier. Size umbrella capacity to the corridor exposure and the largest contract, match cargo to livestock and commodity values, and review at every growth step, because Oklahoma's two-tier system makes limits a licensing question, and licensing questions are cheapest answered in advance. A yearly conversation with the commission's schedule in hand, comparing the license tier, the filed limits, and the actual freight mix, catches the drift before an inspector or a claims adjuster does, and it costs an hour against the weeks a mismatch costs at roadside.
Real questions Oklahoma owner-operators and fleet managers ask
What are Oklahoma's two intrastate liability tiers?
$750,000 for unrestricted property carriers and $350,000 for restricted carriers confined to aggregates, forestry products, agricultural commodities, and ordinary livestock, with hazmat on the federal categories.
Is the $350,000 restricted tier enough protection?
It licenses the operation but rarely protects it: serious crash damages consume it quickly, and customers increasingly require more by contract, so most restricted carriers buy above the tier.
Do interstate loads change a restricted carrier's floor?
Yes. The federal $750,000 governs interstate operation over 10,001 pounds regardless of the state tier, so cattle and grain crossing state lines need the federal floor.
What limits do Oklahoma energy haulers actually carry?
Master service agreements with operators typically specify multi-million towers, so oilfield fleets run $1,000,000 primaries with umbrellas sized to the contracts rather than the state schedule.
Does Oklahoma apply federal minimums intrastate?
Yes. The commission's rules apply the Part 387 minimums to intrastate operations, with the state's two-tier schedule setting the property-carrier floors within that framework.
Can Morrow write trucking insurance in Oklahoma?
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 Oklahoma, we can refer you to a licensed Oklahoma agent, and this guide still shows you exactly what to ask that agent for. Everything above comes from public Oklahoma and federal sources, not from us selling you a policy.
Related Oklahoma trucking guides
The other Oklahoma trucking questions, answered the same way.
- Trucking insurance in Oklahoma (start here)
- Trucking insurance requirements
- Intrastate authority and filings
- Cost of trucking insurance
- Business insurance in Oklahoma
- Federal minimum liability limits by commodity
- What is an MCS-90 endorsement?
- Federal minimum liability limits by commodity
This guide is general information, not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Limits, forms, and deadlines change, so verify current requirements with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and the Oklahoma Insurance Department before you rely on them. Morrow is a brand name of Afthonea Inc. Last updated: July 2026.