For freight brokers & 3PLs

Verify every motor carrier's insurance before you tender the load.

Name: 2026 Subcontractor COI Compliance & Risk Transfer Benchmark
Creator: Pikorua Security
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

When a truck you brokered is in a serious accident, plaintiffs look past the carrier to you. Pikorua Security checks each carrier's auto liability, cargo limit, endorsements and federal filings against your broker-carrier agreement, and keeps loads off carriers that do not match.

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Carrier onboarding check

Corridor Logistics LLC

Prairie Line Transport LLC

MC-918274 · USDOT 2611038 · 11 power units

Operating authorityActive, common carrier of property
Primary auto liability$750,000 CSL meets the FMCSA floor; your agreement requires $1,000,000
Federal filingBMC-91X on file; MCS-90 attached
Motor truck cargo$100,000 per load
Designated insuredCA 20 48 not attached
Expiration12/15/2026, day 60 request sent

Onboarding hold: auto limit

The carrier coverage stack

Federal minimums are a floor. Your agreement is the standard.

A carrier can be fully legal to operate and still fail your requirements. Pikorua Security separates the two: what FMCSA demands for the carrier to run, and what your agreement demands before it hauls for you.

Coverage	Federal floor	Typical broker requirement	What Pikorua Security checks
Primary auto liability	$750,000 for general freight in interstate commerce on vehicles of 10,001 lbs GVWR or more; $1,000,000 for oil and many hazardous materials; $5,000,000 for the highest-hazard classes (49 CFR 387.9)	$1,000,000 combined single limit	Limit, covered auto symbol (61 any auto vs. 67 scheduled), named insured matches the MC registration, BMC-91X filing on record
MCS-90 endorsement	Required on the auto policy of regulated for-hire carriers	Attached	Present on the policy and matching the insured; never read as cargo or broker coverage
Motor truck cargo	No federal cargo minimum for general freight (household goods carriers have their own filing)	Per load, often $100,000; higher for high-value freight	Limit vs. declared load value, deductible, exclusions for unattended vehicles, reefer breakdown and listed commodities, scheduled units
Designated insured	None	Broker named on the carrier's auto liability	CA 20 48 attached and naming your exact legal entity
Workers' comp or occupational accident	State law	Statutory WC, or occupational accident for owner-operators where the agreement allows	Coverage type, states, and that occupational accident is only accepted where your agreement says so

Your own obligations sit on a separate track: the $75,000 BMC-84 bond or BMC-85 trust that keeps your broker authority active, and your contingent auto and contingent cargo policies. Pikorua Security tracks the carrier side so those policies stay the backstop they are meant to be.

MCS-90 in context

The MCS-90 protects the public. It does not protect your load or your balance sheet.

Carrier packets almost always include the MCS-90, and onboarding teams sometimes read it as proof of coverage. It is narrower than that.

What it is

An endorsement on a regulated motor carrier's auto policy, prescribed by FMCSA
A promise by the insurer to pay final judgments to injured members of the public, up to the federal minimum, even where the policy would otherwise not respond
Backed by a right of the insurer to seek reimbursement from the carrier for amounts paid only because of the endorsement

What it is not

Cargo coverage: freight loss is handled by motor truck cargo insurance
Coverage for you as the broker: it runs to the public, not to the parties in the transaction
A reason to accept $750,000 when your agreement requires $1,000,000

Owner-operators

A non-trucking liability certificate is not primary auto coverage.

Owner-operators leased to a motor carrier run under that carrier's authority and its primary auto policy. Their own non-trucking liability (NTL) policy covers the tractor when it is off dispatch, used for personal reasons.

The problem starts when a one-truck carrier with its own MC number sends you that same NTL certificate. It looks like a $1,000,000 auto policy. It does not respond while the truck is hauling your freight. Pikorua Security reads the coverage type, not just the limit, and holds the carrier until a primary policy and BMC-91X filing are in place.

Which policy responds?

Owner-operator scenarios

Owner-operator leased to Bluewater Freight Inc. is hauling your load under Bluewater's authority.

Motor carrier's primary auto
Bought by the carrier the owner-operator is leased to
Responds
Non-trucking liability
Bought by the leased owner-operator
Does not respond
Owner-operator's own primary auto
Required once it runs under its own authority
Not in the picture

The motor carrier's primary auto liability responds. Your certificate should come from Bluewater, not from the driver.

Carrier onboarding gate

No load is tendered to a carrier that has not cleared.

Your TMS asks Pikorua Security for a carrier's status before a tender goes out, through a REST endpoint and webhooks. Dispatchers see cleared, held or held for a load type, with the reason.

How holds work

01
InviteCarrier sales
The carrier and its agent get one onboarding link
The carrier uploads its certificate and endorsements, or its insurance agent does through a zero-login link. Nobody creates an account.
02
VerifyPikorua Security
Certificate, endorsements and federal records are matched
Auto limit, coverage type, covered auto symbol, cargo terms and CA 20 48 are read from the documents and checked against your agreement and FMCSA authority and filing data.
03
DecidePikorua Security
Cleared, held, or held for a load type
A carrier can be cleared for dry van and held for reefer if its cargo policy excludes refrigeration breakdown. The status your TMS sees carries that distinction.
04
MonitorPikorua Security
Daily re-checks and renewal chasing
Authority changes and filing cancellations are picked up daily. Renewals follow the 60/30/15/0 day cadence, and a lapsed carrier drops out of the tender pool on day 0.
05
SettleAccounting
Payments wait on compliance
Settlements to a carrier that fell out of compliance mid-load are held until the certificate verifies, with the reason visible to accounting.

Carrier files that stay current without a carrier desk chasing them.

endorsement verification accuracy across ISO forms: 99.4%; endorsement verification accuracy across ISO forms; Pikorua Security customer data
average time to resolve a deficiency with the insured's agent, down from 28 days: 4.2 days; average time to resolve a deficiency with the insured's agent, down from 28 days; Pikorua Security customer data
hours of manual broker chasing eliminated: 250,000+; hours of manual broker chasing eliminated; Pikorua Security customer data

Read the regional 3PL case study

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Endorsement guides

Product

Customers & reading

FAQ

Questions brokers and 3PLs ask first.

Pikorua Security is an automated compliance verification software platform. Pikorua Security does not provide legal advice, insurance underwriting, or claims adjusting services, and is not an insurance agency or broker. Receipt of a certificate of insurance does not guarantee coverage under the underlying policy.

Talk to sales

Is $750,000 of auto liability enough?

$750,000 is the federal minimum for for-hire carriers of general (non-hazardous) freight on vehicles of 10,001 lbs GVWR or more under 49 CFR 387.9. It is a floor, not a standard. Most broker-carrier agreements require $1,000,000, and shippers often ask for more. Pikorua Security checks every carrier against your agreement, not against the federal minimum.

What does CA 20 48 do for a broker?

CA 20 48, Designated Insured for Covered Autos Liability Coverage, schedules your company as an insured under the carrier's auto liability coverage, to the extent the policy's Who Is An Insured provision already reaches you, which generally means liability arising from the carrier's own operation of the truck. It helps when a plaintiff names you alongside the carrier. It is not a substitute for your own contingent auto liability policy.

Does Pikorua Security check FMCSA authority and insurance filings?

Yes. At onboarding and every day after, Pikorua Security reads the carrier's operating authority status and insurance filings from FMCSA's public registration data and compares them with the certificate. A revoked authority, a cancelled BMC-91X or a named insured that does not match the MC registration puts the carrier on hold.

How are owner-operators handled?

It depends on whose authority they run under. An owner-operator leased to a motor carrier hauls under that carrier's authority and primary auto policy; its own non-trucking liability covers personal use off dispatch. An owner-operator with its own MC number needs its own primary auto liability and filing. Pikorua Security flags NTL certificates submitted as primary coverage.

Does Pikorua Security replace our contingent auto or contingent cargo coverage?

No. Contingent coverage is your own insurance, bought through your broker. Pikorua Security is software: it verifies carrier certificates, endorsements and filings against your agreement and holds non-compliant carriers. It does not provide legal advice, is not an insurance agency or broker, and does not sell, bind or underwrite insurance.

14-day free production trial

Find the carriers in your network that would not survive a claim.

Upload your active carrier certificates. Pikorua Security checks limits, coverage type, cargo exclusions and CA 20 48 against your agreement in about 10 minutes.