What insurance does Amazon Relay require?
Six lines, and Amazon publishes all of them: auto liability of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence with $50,000 of trailer replacement coverage, cargo of at least $100,000, general liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, workers’ compensation in every state you operate in, and employer’s liability of at least $100,000. The auto and cargo lines are what every broker asks for; the general liability and workers’ compensation are what most carriers do not already have.
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The detail
Amazon Relay requires auto liability of not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence, including trailer replacement coverage of $50,000.
Amazon Relay requires cargo coverage of at least $100,000.
Amazon Relay requires commercial general liability of not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 in aggregate.
Amazon Relay requires workers’ compensation insurance in all jurisdictions where the company operates, and employer’s liability of not less than $100,000 per occurrence.
Amazon’s own explainer scopes the workers’ compensation line to companies with W-2 employees, and says that carriers running a semi also need the $50,000 trailer interchange line.
Amazon Relay, Understanding Amazon Relay insurance requirements (February 2026)
Amazon asks for the renewal certificate at least five days before the policy ends, to give RMIS time to update its records.
Amazon Relay, Understanding Amazon Relay insurance requirements (February 2026)
Alongside insurance, Relay requires an active DOT number with interstate authority that has been active for a minimum of 180 days, and a safety rating of Satisfactory, None or Not Rated — which excludes Conditional and Unsatisfactory.
Relay’s safety-score gates are published: Unsafe Driving and Hours of Service BASICs below 60%, and Vehicle Maintenance, Controlled Substances and Driver Fitness below 75%, with a driver violation rate at or below 35% and a vehicle violation rate at or below 50%.
The federal floor underneath all of this is $750,000 for non-hazardous property in vehicles over 10,001 pounds — so Relay’s $1,000,000 is a contract requirement above the legal minimum, not the legal minimum itself.
What this means for you
- The auto and cargo lines are the easy half. $1,000,000 auto liability and $100,000 cargo is the same floor TQL, C.H. Robinson and Uber Freight publish, so a carrier already hauling for brokers usually has both. Check the trailer replacement line: $50,000 is a specific figure, and a policy written without trailer interchange will fail on it.
- General liability is the line most carriers do not have. Trucking general liability is a separate policy from the auto policy, and most operations that have only ever hauled for brokers were never asked for it. It is not expensive relative to the auto, but it has to be placed, and a certificate that shows auto and cargo alone is an automatic rejection.
- Workers’ compensation depends on whether you have employees. Amazon’s own explainer ties the requirement to W-2 staff. A one-truck owner-operator with no employees is in a different position from a five-truck fleet with drivers on payroll, and the answer varies by state. Tell us who drives and how they are paid before anybody quotes a workers’ compensation policy you may not need.
- The safety gates cannot be fixed with insurance. A Conditional rating, a BASIC over threshold or an authority under 180 days old fails Relay regardless of the certificate. Check the safety side on FMCSA before spending money on coverage you cannot use yet.
- Five days before expiry is the renewal deadline, not the expiry date. Relay’s certificate flows through RMIS, and Amazon asks for the renewal at least five days before the old policy ends. A renewal bound on the last day leaves you unable to book loads while the record catches up.
Related questions
- How much does Amazon Relay insurance cost?
There is no Relay-specific price, because Relay does not sell insurance — it sets minimums that your own policy has to meet. The cost is the cost of a trucking auto policy at $1,000,000, cargo at $100,000, a general liability policy and, if you have employees, workers’ compensation, and that depends on your years in business, your radius, your equipment and your driving record far more than on which platform you haul for. What we can tell you is that the auto policy is the majority of the bill and that the general liability line is a small addition to it.
- Does a box truck need the same insurance for Amazon Relay as a tractor-trailer?
The published list is the same for both. The one difference Amazon itself draws is the $50,000 trailer replacement line, which it describes as applying when you run a semi. A straight box truck has no trailer to interchange, so ask your agent whether that line is on your policy before assuming it is missing.
- Box truck insurance
- Does Amazon have to be named as additional insured?
Amazon’s own requirements pages do not say so. Several third-party sites state it as fact; we have not been able to find it on any Amazon page, and we do not publish requirements we cannot source. Your certificate is delivered to RMIS, which records it against your carrier profile. If Relay asks for a specific endorsement during your onboarding, send us the request and we will match it exactly.
- I already haul for brokers. What do I need to add for Relay?
Usually two things: a general liability policy, and workers’ compensation if you have W-2 employees. Your existing auto and cargo probably already meet the $1,000,000 and $100,000 lines. The trailer replacement line is worth checking, because it is a specific amount and not every broker-facing policy carries it.
- My authority is less than 180 days old. Can I still get set up?
Not on Relay, and no insurance policy changes that. The 180-day rule is Amazon’s, and it sits alongside the safety-rating and BASIC thresholds as a gate that runs before the insurance is even looked at. Use the time to build the inspection history Relay and the other platforms score you on.
- Insurance for a new authority
Need this handled?
Reading about it and having it handled are different jobs, and the second one is ours. We place the accounts other brokers decline — claims history, a cancellation, an unusual operation, a business nobody wants to underwrite twice — and we will tell you when the policy you already have is the right one. Tell us the situation and a licensed human replies the same business day.
Written by the licensed brokers at Boring Insurance. Last updated 2026-09-03. See all guides.