Does Montana set its own trucking insurance minimums?

Yes. Montana publishes its own financial-responsibility rules for intrastate carriers, and they are not a copy of the federal levels. Each figure the state publishes renders in the tables here with the official source beside it.

Do federal insurance minimums still apply to a Montana carrier?

Interstate operations file proof of coverage with FMCSA under 49 CFR Part 387 no matter which state the carrier is based in. The state rules on this page govern intrastate-only operations; the federal table shows the levels an interstate filing must meet.

What insurance does a new Montana carrier line up first?

Primary liability comes first: the state and federal filings both ride on an active liability policy. Cargo coverage follows where the state or your shippers require it, and physical damage on the truck is a lender requirement rather than a state rule.

Where do these figures come from?

Every dollar amount renders from the state agency publication or statute cited beside it, or from the federal regulation for the contrast table. When an agency publishes no figure, the field reads "Not confirmed" with a note on what the agency does say.

Montana Trucking Insurance Requirements (2026)

By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 28, 2026

What Montana requires

These are the state-level rules attached to Montana intrastate operating authority. A field reading "Not confirmed" means the agency publishes no figure; the note explains what the agency does say.

Liability minimum: Montana sets no single dollar liability minimum for intrastate general freight. ARM 18.8.1502(2)(b) applies the federal 49 CFR 387.7 and 387.9 minimums only to for-hire carriers in interstate or foreign commerce and to hazardous materials carriers, and names Mont. Code Ann. 61-6-103 as the minimum for for-hire carriers hauling nonhazardous material intrastate: $25,000 bodily injury to one person, $50,000 for two or more people and $20,000 property damage per accident. PSC-certificated Class A and D freight carriers must carry more under ARM 38.3.706: $500,000, or $100,000 for a cargo vehicle of 10,000 pounds GVWR or less.
Cargo minimum: $10,000 (ARM 38.3.703 requires each Class A intrastate carrier to file evidence of cargo insurance, and the PSC's MV-2 cargo endorsement limits the insurer's liability to $10,000 per loss at one time and place or per vehicle ($1,000 for cargo in a vehicle designed for seven passengers or fewer).)
Differs from federal: Yes

Minimum liability by operation type

General freight is not the floor for every carrier; buy against the row that matches what you haul.

Montana minimum liability coverage by operation type
Operation type	Minimum liability	Set by	Notes
For-hire nonhazardous freight in intrastate commerce (no PSC certificate)	See note	Mont. Code Ann. 61-6-103	Split limits under Mont. Code Ann. 61-6-103: $25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 per accident, $20,000 property damage, as named by ARM 18.8.1502(2)(b).
PSC Class A or D carrier, nonhazardous freight in a cargo vehicle of 10,000 pounds GVWR or less, or a vehicle for seven passengers or fewer	$100,000	ARM 38.3.706(2)(a)(v)
PSC Class A or D carrier, nonhazardous freight in all other vehicles	$500,000	ARM 38.3.706(2)(a)(vi)
PSC passenger carrier, 8 to 15 passengers	$500,000	ARM 38.3.706(2)(a)(ii)
PSC passenger carrier, 16 to 26 passengers	$750,000	ARM 38.3.706(2)(a)(iii)
Hazardous materials (interstate or intrastate)	See note	ARM 18.8.1502(2)(b)	ARM 18.8.1502(2)(b) applies the federal 49 CFR 387.9 minimums to hazardous materials carriers, and the PSC MV-4 endorsement uses the federal hazardous materials limits for certificated carriers; the dollar rows are the federal schedule, not a Montana figure.

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Who files the proof of insurance

Your insurance company makes these filings with the state, not you. Ask for them by form name when you bind coverage.

Liability proof: Form E, with Casualty Insurance Endorsement MV-4
Household goods cargo: Form H, with Cargo Insurance Endorsement MV-2
Cancellation: Form K; the MV-4 endorsement requires 30 days' written notice to the PSC before cancellation

Applies only to PSC Class A, D and E certificate holders (Class E files Form T with endorsement MV-TNC).

The federal minimums, for contrast

Cross a state line for hire and the federal financial-responsibility levels take over, filed with FMCSA by your insurer. The amounts below render from 49 CFR Part 387 (property carriers 387.303, brokers and freight forwarders 387.307, endorsements 387.15), as displayed on FMCSA's insurance filing requirements page; the filing mechanics live in our BMC-91 and BMC-34 insurance filings guide.

Federal minimum public liability levels by operation (49 CFR Part 387)
Operation	Vehicle	Liability minimum
For-hire property carrier, non-hazardous	GVWR under 10,001 lb	$300,000
For-hire property carrier, non-hazardous (general freight)	GVWR 10,001 lb or more	$750,000
For-hire carrier of certain hazardous materials	Any	$1,000,000
For-hire and private carriers of explosives, poison gas, or radioactive materials	Any	$5,000,000
For-hire carrier of household goods	GVWR 10,001 lb or more	$750,000
For-hire carrier of passengers	15 or fewer passengers	$1,500,000
For-hire carrier of passengers	16 or more passengers	$5,000,000
Broker of property or household goods	None	None
Freight forwarder of property	None	None
Freight forwarder of household goods	None	None

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Where insurance fits in the Montana launch

Coverage sits early in the sequence: the federal filing sequence needs your insurer's proof of coverage on file before authority activates, and the state rules above attach to the credential covered on the Montana intrastate authority page. For the full order of operations, work through start a trucking company in Montana.