Author and Phoenix Partner, David Kash – When Trucker’s Insurance Morphs into a Surety Bond, July 2021
Sections 29 and 30 of the Federal Motor Carrier Act (MCA) of 1980
Congress passed the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 which not only deregulated the trucking industry, reduced barriers to entry and addresses safety issues and financial responsibility obligations relating to trucking accidents, its major intent was to make sure that the motor carrier was “adequately insured in order to protect the public from risks created by the motor carrier’s operations”. At the time of this presentation, the federal regulations require that an interstate motor carrier show proof of financial responsibility either by an MCS-90 endorsement, a surety bond or self-insurance. Most interstate trucking companies obtain the MCS-90 endorsement to their motor carrier auto liability policy. Currently the federal regulations require an MCS-90 in the amount of $750,000 per vehicle that transports nonhazardous cargo. Hazardous cargo is much more.