TL;DR: A company driver is covered by the employer's liability, cargo, and workers comp policies and buys nothing. An owner-operator owns the truck and the risk: leased-on operators buy physical damage, bobtail, and usually occupational accident coverage, while owner-operators with their own authority buy the full stack, including filed liability and cargo.
What insurance does a company driver need?
Almost none personally. When you drive a fleet's truck as an employee, the company's primary auto liability covers the operation, its cargo policy covers freight, and state-mandated workers compensation covers your injuries on the job. Your personal auto policy covers your car, not the rig. The trade is simple: no insurance bills, and also no equity in equipment and no say in the coverage.
What changes the day I become an owner-operator?
You now own an asset and a business, and insurance follows ownership. What you must buy depends on which of two modes you operate in, and the difference is bigger than most drivers expect.
| Coverage | Company driver | Leased-on owner-operator | Own authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary auto liability | Employer's | Carrier's, per 49 CFR 376.12(j) | Yours, filed with FMCSA |
| Physical damage | Employer's | Yours | Yours |
| Non-trucking liability, bobtail | Not needed | Yours | Depends on operations |
| Cargo | Employer's | Usually carrier's, lease decides | Yours, market-required |
| Injury coverage | Workers comp | Occupational accident, often lease-required; state law may differ | Your choice, state law may apply if you hire |
What does a leased-on owner-operator actually buy?
Three core pieces. Physical damage on the tractor, because it is your asset and your lender or lease likely requires it. Non-trucking liability, called bobtail coverage, for personal use outside dispatch, which 49 CFR 376.12(j) requires the lease to address explicitly. And usually occupational accident coverage, since employer workers comp does not automatically follow an independent contractor; whether workers comp applies to you at all is a state-law question. The carrier provides primary liability while you run under its authority, and the lease must show the exact charge-back for anything you buy through the carrier.
What does running my own authority require?
The full stack, starting with what federal law demands. Liability coverage at your commodity's tier under 49 CFR 387.9, which for for-hire general freight in trucks 10,001 pounds and heavier has been a minimum of $750,000 since January 1, 1985, though brokers require $1,000,000 in practice. Your insurer files the BMC-91 or BMC-91X with FMCSA, and your policy carries the MCS-90 endorsement. Add motor truck cargo, which is not federally filed for general freight but is contract-required almost everywhere, plus physical damage and any general liability your shippers demand. This is why the jump from leased-on to own authority roughly triples the insurance decisions you own.
Which mode costs more to insure?
Own authority, by a wide margin, because you are paying for the liability limit that the carrier used to provide. New authorities also pay more than established ones for the same coverage, since underwriters price the lack of operating history. Leased-on packages, physical damage plus bobtail plus occupational accident, cost a fraction of a full own-authority program. The honest comparison is not premium versus premium; it is premium versus the revenue difference between the two modes for your lanes.
How should I decide?
Run the math on both modes with real numbers, then check three insurance questions before signing anything. If leasing on: does the lease meet 49 CFR 376.12(j), naming every coverage, provider, and charge-back? If going own-authority: can you fund the full program plus the down payment underwriters expect from new authorities? Either way: what happens to your injury coverage, since workers comp is state law and occupational accident caps benefits at policy limits? The right answer changes with your lanes, your equipment, and your state.
Real questions drivers deciding between company work and owner-operator life ask
Do company drivers need any trucking insurance of their own?
No. The employer's liability, cargo, and workers comp policies cover employed drivers on the job. Your personal auto policy handles your own vehicle. Coverage questions only start when you own the truck or run under your own authority.
What insurance do I need the day I lease onto a carrier?
Typically physical damage on your tractor, non-trucking liability for personal use, and occupational accident coverage if the lease requires it. The carrier provides primary liability under the lease per 49 CFR 376.12(j). Get the charge-back amounts in writing before signing.
Can I stay on the carrier's insurance and still run my own loads?
No. Loads under your own authority need your own filed liability and cargo coverage. The carrier's policy follows its authority, not your truck. Mixing modes without the right coverage is one of the fastest ways owner-operators end up personally exposed.
Is occupational accident coverage required by law?
No federal law requires it. Carriers require it by lease so injured contractors have benefits without the carrier paying workers comp. Whether you can or must be under workers comp instead depends on your state's law and classification tests, so check both.
Why is own-authority insurance so much more expensive?
You are buying the big limit, $750,000 to $1,000,000 or more of primary liability, that the carrier previously provided, plus cargo, and you are doing it without an operating history. Established authorities with clean records pay meaningfully less than first-year authorities.
Why truckers work with Morrow
- We know the filings. Morrow builds owner-operator packages both ways, leased-on coverages only, or the full own-authority stack with federal filings.
- New authority is our normal. First-year carriers pay the most and get declined the most. We work with markets that actually want new ventures and we tell you what the first renewal takes.
- Certificates and filings, fast. Certificates of insurance the same business day for most carriers, and federal or state filings submitted electronically so your authority is not sitting in a queue.
- We quote the whole picture. Liability, cargo, physical damage, and the endorsements shippers and brokers actually check for, priced together so nothing is missing when a load is on the line.
- Real people when something goes wrong. A claim, a lapse notice, or a lost certificate gets a person, not a portal.
Related trucking guides
Short answers to the surrounding questions truckers ask next.
- Trucking insurance at Morrow (start here)
- Leased on to a motor carrier: who insures what
- Insurance you need to get an MC number
- Non-trucking liability (bobtail) coverage
- Physical damage coverage for trucks
- Why new authority insurance costs more
- Commercial auto for trucking fleets
- Workers comp for transportation companies
This guide is general information, not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Limits, forms, and deadlines change, so verify current requirements with FMCSA and your state insurance department before you rely on them. Morrow is a brand name of Afthonea Inc. Last updated: July 2026.