General liability insurance covers third-party bodily injury, property damage, and advertising injury that happen off the truck: at your terminal, yard, or a customer’s dock.
See our general liability vs. trucking insurance breakdown for how it differs from the policy that covers your truck on the road.
Coverage responds to slip-and-falls at your yard, damage caused at a customer’s dock, and advertising or copyright disputes tied to your business.
Most brokers and shippers require $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate before they sign a contract or dispatch a load.
General Liability Insurance Alvix Provides
- A standard baseline of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate
- Bodily injury and property damage protection at your terminal, yard, or a customer’s site
- Products, completed operations, and medical payments coverage
- Personal, advertising, and rented-premises injury protection
- Additional insured, waiver of subrogation, and primary and noncontributory endorsements, added by name for broker and shipper contracts
- 24/7 certificate of insurance access, so a Saturday request from a broker gets answered the same day
What General Liability Insurance Does Not Cover
- A crash involving your own truck. That falls under primary truck liability insurance.
- Damage to your own trailer. That falls under physical damage protection coverage.
- Damage to a trailer you don’t own, under an interchange agreement. That falls under trailer interchange insurance protection.
- The value of the freight you’re hauling. That falls under cargo freight insurance protection.
- Limits above your base policy, for shipper contracts requiring $4,000,000 or more. That’s where excess liability insurance coverage stacks on top.
Who Needs General Liability Insurance
If you run your own MC authority, even with 1 truck, you need general liability the same as a fleet does. A home base or loading point is exposure enough on its own. We see brokers apply their own $1,000,000 floor before dispatching a load, above the state’s legal minimum, so this coverage needs to be active before you’re offered freight.
- Owner-operators and new authority holders
- First-time carriers setting up a new venture
- Small fleets running 6 to 25 trucks out of a shared yard
General Liability Insurance Coverage Limits
| Coverage Scenario | Minimum Limit | Maximum Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Standard broker or shipper contract | $1,000,000 per occurrence | $2,000,000 aggregate |
| Specialty freight shipper contract | $2,000,000 combined | $4,000,000 combined |
Limit requirements come from broker and shipper contracts, not a state filing. Check the states where Alvix writes general liability coverage below.
States Where Alvix Writes General Liability Insurance
Florida | Texas | Louisiana | Arkansas | Alabama | Georgia | South Carolina | North Carolina | Tennessee | Kentucky | Indiana | Ohio | West Virginia | Pennsylvania | New Jersey | Mississippi | Kansas | Missouri | Illinois | Nevada | Oklahoma | Colorado | New Mexico
