UIIA Insurance Registration and Requirements: A Quick Compliance Guide 2026

Quick Answer: UIIA insurance is the plan set a motor carrier needs to move gear under the Uniform Intermodal Interchange and Facilities Access Agreement. You need $1,000,000 of auto liability. You need general liability of $1,000,000 per claim and $2,000,000 in total. You need a UIIE-1 endorsement and trailer interchange cover at the same time. Miss one piece and a port will not let the gear go.

Key Takeaways

• UIIA insurance is not one plan. It is auto liability, general liability, cargo, and trailer interchange, checked as a set.
• The UIIE-1 endorsement fails on the exact contract words far more than on price. A cheap quote and a form that works are 2 different questions.
• Progressive began to limit how it writes UIIA cover on January 22, 2026. The snag is the hold harmless words, not a retreat from truck risk.
• A yes on the file does not get your truck through the gate. You still need TWIC, RFID, and a steamship line interchange agreement to reach the container.
• A photo of the chassis at pickup is the cheap step that can save you from a trailer interchange claim for harm you did not cause.

We hear the same story from owner operators again and again. The UIIA yes shows up, then a cancel note lands within hours.

We have placed this cover for more than a decade, and we trace that failure to one clause. It is below, with the parts of drayage access that insurance alone never solves.

What is UIIA insurance?

UIIA insurance is the commercial insurance and the endorsement a motor carrier needs to meet the rules for the Uniform Intermodal Interchange and Facilities Access Agreement. The UIIA is run by the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). It sets shared rules for motor carriers and for Equipment Providers that take part.

If you do intermodal work, you may need these rules to reach the gear, the port, the rail yard, and the firms that take part. The exact insurance rules can change with the Equipment Providers you use.

What UIIA insurance means

The UIIA insurance meaning is more than a plain commercial truck plan. To take part, a carrier has to keep set insurance and an endorsement, and send the facts the UIIA process asks for.

In short, UIIA insurance shows that an intermodal carrier has the liability and the contract endorsement needed to work with Equipment Providers that take part.

The rules can include:

• Other insurance rules that one Equipment Provider sets on its own.
• Commercial auto liability is part of the set.
• Commercial general liability is part of the set.
• A UIIE-1 form, or a form they treat as the same, is part of the set.
• Additional insured rules are part of the set.
• Trailer interchange cover, when they ask for it, is part of the set.
• Cargo cover, when they ask for it, is part of the set.

UIIA insurance rules

The UIIA insurance rules are the base that a motor carrier who takes part must meet. IANA sets that base. You need $1,000,000 as a combined single limit of commercial auto liability on the truck. For each occurrence, you need $1,000,000 of commercial general liability. The auto plan also needs one of these forms: UIIE-1, CA23-17, or TE23-17B. Each of those is an endorsement. UIIA insurance is not 1 plan. It is 4 plans, stacked as one set. An Equipment Provider can push any limit higher with Form 5B. Read the table as the floor, not the top.

The UIIA endorsement

A UIIA endorsement is a form on the motor carrier commercial auto liability plan. It is there so the plan can meet the UIIA intermodal insurance rules.

The forms they take are these.

• UIIE-1 is one form they take.
• CA23-17 is one form they take.
• TE23-17B is one form they take.

These forms speak to the contract insurance duties that come with an intermodal gear swap. The endorsement has to sit on the carrier auto liability plan, and the file has to back it up.

A plain commercial truck plan with no UIIA endorsement may not meet the UIIA rules that apply.

Additional insured status has to go with each EP

Each EP your truck works with needs to be an additional insured for UIIA, not just the first port you clear. This is the gap we catch most when we read a plan.

A carrier adds 1 rail yard as an additional insured, then gets flagged at a second yard on the same UIIA account.

What UIIA insurance covers

UIIA insurance coverage is not one insurance plan. A carrier may need a few kinds of cover, based on the base UIIA rules and on the Equipment Providers it works with.

Commercial auto liability

It pays when covered truck work causes bodily injury to a person, or property damage to goods you do not own.

Commercial general liability

It pays for some third party liability that sits outside auto liability.

Trailer interchange insurance

Trailer interchange insurance can pay for a trailer, a container, or a chassis you do not own, while it is in your care, custody, or control, when an Equipment Provider requires it. IANA says the cover must meet the physical damage rules. A plan that pays only for fire and theft is not enough.

Cargo insurance

Cargo cover pays for freight while it is on the move, but the limits and the terms can change by Equipment Provider.

Additional insured cover

Some Equipment Providers want to be named as an additional insured on the plans that apply.

Additional insured for UIIA

Additional insured for UIIA is a key part of the file. The Equipment Providers you do business with, as a rule, need to be listed as an additional insured on the right plans, the way their rules say.

IANA, and the UIIA itself, does not simply need to be named as the additional insured. The IANA FAQ says the Equipment Providers are the ones that need that status on the right plans.

The exact additional insured rules can change by Equipment Provider and by the type of plan.

Do you need trucking insurance to meet UIIA?

Yes, carriers as a rule need a fitting commercial trucking insurance plan to meet the UIIA insurance rules.

A personal auto plan, or a generic commercial plan with no intermodal endorsement and no cover they ask for, may not meet UIIA rules.

Before you apply, check that your plan has these.

• Commercial auto liability has to be on the plan.
• Commercial general liability has to be on the plan.
• A UIIE-1 form, or a form they treat as the same, has to be on the plan.
• The Equipment Provider additional insured rules have to be met.
• Trailer interchange has to be on the plan if they ask for it.
• Cargo cover has to be on the plan if they ask for it.

Your agent should check the plan against the UIIA insurance rules of the Equipment Providers you plan to use, before you send the file.

What does UIIA insurance cost?

UIIA insurance cost can swing a lot with the carrier and the cover you need. The facts include fleet size, truck type, how far you run, driver history, claim history, the limits, the cargo, and the Equipment Providers you plan to use.

Firms that ask how much is UIIA insurance should not trust one set price. UIIA insurance is not one product with one rate.

Facts that can change the UIIA insurance cost

• The truck count can change the cost.
• The driver count can change the cost.
• How long the drivers have been at it can change the cost.
• Claim history can change the cost.
• How far you run can change the cost.
• The cargo type can change the cost.
• The auto liability limit can change the cost.
• The general liability limit can change the cost.
• Trailer interchange rules can change the cost.
• More endorsements can change the cost.
• What the Equipment Provider asks for can change the cost.

The best way to learn your real rate is to get a quote based on your full intermodal work.

Who still writes UIIA insurance in 2026

Who will write this cover shifted hard in early 2026. A side by side look at UIIA insurance carriers is the question we hear most from owner operators who shop a renewal.

What Progressive changed in January 2026

As of January 22, 2026, Progressive moved to writing UIIA cover only on a limited basis. IANA says so in its own agent reference packet. The cause is set contract words, not a full retreat from truck risk.

That hold harmless rule asks the insurer to cover owner operators the moment they are sent out, even before the file is updated. Retail carriers built on auto plans that list each truck on its own were not priced for that standing risk.

So Progressive cut back the endorsement, and it no longer offers it in a broad way.

Where the endorsement still gets written

Knights Specialty Insurance, Trisura Specialty, and Accredited Specialty are among the UIIA insurance firms that still confirm the UIIE-1 or CA23-17 endorsement with no restriction.

These carriers sit in the same wholesale and E&S market that already takes hard truck risk, such as auto haulers and tank trucks.

Before you bind with any of them, get these in writing.

• The exact endorsement version, since only the current words qualify.
• If Hired Autos cover is on the plan, since some carriers leave it off and do not say so.
• The carrier NAIC number and the current A.M. Best rating, written down for the ACORD 22 filing.

A new truck plan or just the UIIA endorsement

If you need to buy new trucking insurance to meet UIIA depends fully on how your current plan is worded.

If your primary truck liability plan already says Any Auto or Scheduled and Hired, your insurer may only need to add the UIIE-1 endorsement and trailer interchange cover.

When your current plan does not qualify

The words force a carrier switch, not the dollar amount. A plan that says All Owned or Scheduled Only fails, no matter how high the limit is.

A broker SCAC code only buys time

Some carriers bridge that gap by running loads for a short time under a broker SCAC code and the broker insurance. It works only because the move is, on paper, done under the broker's own interchange agreement.

That bridge holds for a handful of loads and ends when the broker says so. It never stands in for an active UIIA account.

UIIA insurance gets you approved, not through the gate

Insurance clears your file. It does not clear the terminal gate. That split trips up more new carriers than the insurance rules do.

Confirm each of these before you promise a client a drayage pickup date.

• The driver needs an active TWIC card.
• That truck needs an RFID tag registered to it.
• You need a separate interchange agreement with the steamship line, the SSL, on top of your UIIA account, for a container pickup.

Even 1 missing item stops the truck at the gate, no matter how clean the UIIA plan on file looks.

A UIIA insurance agent

A UIIA insurance agent who has personally filed ACORD 22 forms will catch a gap that a general rate sheet agent will miss.

How a specialist checks a carrier before you bind

Before a specialist names a carrier, they confirm that carrier is issuing the UIIE-1 endorsement right now, not that a guide merely allows it. That one check call stops the cancel shock described above.

Contact Alvix and we will go further.

• We confirm live UIIA status with IANA direct.
• We check that Hired and non-owned auto cover is really on the plan.
• We list each EP you work with as an additional insured.
• We time the renewal so the start dates match and there is no lapse.

The file a UIIA carrier actually wants

Underwriters ask for set documents, not a broad summary of the firm.

Have these ready before the first call.

• Have your MC number and your DOT number ready.
• Have your current FMCSA safety profile ready.
• Have 4 quarters of IFTA reports ready.
• Have your loss run history ready.

Walk in ready and you can cut days off the wait, not weeks.

UIIA and TRAC insurance rules

If you work with UIIA and TRAC insurance rules, do not assume the base UIIA rules meet each Equipment Provider rule.

Equipment Providers can set more insurance rules. Those can include different cargo, trailer interchange, liability, or additional insured rules. IANA files show that the rules can differ among the Equipment Providers that take part.

Before you start the work, confirm the rules for the Equipment Provider and the deal in your business.

UIIA insurance firms

Firms that search for UIIA insurance providers or insurance companies who work with UIIA should look for an agency and a carrier that know intermodal insurance rules. Do not just buy a plain trucking plan.

When you compare a firm, ask if they can help with these.

• Ask if they can add a UIIE-1 endorsement.
• Ask if they can send the UIIA certificate.
• Ask if they know the Equipment Provider rules.
• Ask if they can add an additional insured endorsement.
• Ask if they can add trailer interchange cover.
• Ask if they can meet the cargo rules.
• Ask if they can handle plan changes and renewals.
• Ask if they can build the UIIA compliance file.

Some firms have extra checks on UIIA insurance rules when they send in a plan. IANA now names set steps for plans written through certain insurers, so your agent should check the current file rules before they send it.

How to stay UIIA compliant after the yes

The first yes is the easy part. Most carriers slip at renewal, and it is usually a blank field, not a missing plan.

NAIC numbers and A.M. Best ratings on the ACORD 22

Since June 3, 2024, IANA has told agents to list each plan NAIC number, the A.M. Best rating, and the rating start date right on the ACORD 22.

Clean files still come back for a missing rating field more often than for a real gap in the cover.

Why chassis photos matter when you file a claim

Pool chassis come back in worse shape than most claim guides admit. A bad-order tag tends to get pulled off by the next driver long before the gear is fixed.

Take a photo of these 4 points each time you hook up.

• Shoot the tires and wheels so you can show wear or harm that was already there.
• Shoot the lights and the reflectors.
• Shoot the brake lines and the air hoses.
• Shoot the kingpin and the lock that holds it.

That habit splits a clean trailer interchange claim from a fight over harm that was there before your truck.

Cancel notice and renewal timing

UIIA plans must give 30 days notice before they cancel, or 10 days if you do not pay. Send the renewal file before the end date.

Even a 1 day gap between the old plan and the new plan freezes your account until the file clears. Per diem on gear you still hold does not stop while that clears.

Get your UIIA cover right the first time

UIIA insurance works best for carriers who check the words, the additional insured list, and the carrier live status before they bind. Alvix Insurance Group has placed trucking cover since 2014.

We file this paperwork for intermodal carriers each week. Get a free UIIA insurance quote or read our trucking insurance FAQ before your next renewal is due.