BIPD stands for bodily injury and property damage liability insurance. For-hire interstate carriers must have an insurer file proof of it with FMCSA (on forms like the BMC-91 or BMC-91X) to get and keep operating authority.
Federal minimums
- $750,000 for general freight carried in vehicles over 10,001 lbs
- $1,000,000 for oil and certain hazardous materials
- $5,000,000 for certain higher-risk hazardous materials
Many shippers and brokers require more, often $1,000,000 auto liability plus cargo coverage, which isn't federally required for most freight.
What to check
- BIPD is on file with FMCSA for the authority you're booking
- No cancellation date coming up. Insurers file a cancellation notice ahead of time, and CarrierTell flags these
- Your certificate of insurance comes from the agent, not the carrier, since PDFs can be edited
Check a carrier now. Paste any USDOT or MC number into the free CarrierTell lookup, or add the Chrome extension to get a risk badge next to every number on load boards, in email and in carrier packets automatically.
Add CarrierTell to Chrome, free
Add CarrierTell to Chrome, free