What is an MCS-90 endorsement?
It is an endorsement attached to a motor carrier’s liability policy that guarantees the public will be paid for injury or damage the carrier causes, up to the federal minimum, even if the policy itself would not have covered the loss. It protects the public, not you: where the insurer pays under the MCS-90 on a claim your policy excluded, it is entitled to come back to you for the money.
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Lori Adams, TRS
Commercial Trucking Insurance Advisor
Twenty-five years in trucking insurance. Knows the filings, the radius rules and the carriers that will actually take the risk.
Transportation Risk Specialist (TRS)
Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.
Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.
The detail
The MCS-90 is required as evidence of financial responsibility for motor carriers operating in interstate commerce under 49 CFR Part 387.
Federal minimum limits are $750,000 for general freight in a vehicle rated 10,001 pounds or more, $1,000,000 for oil and certain hazardous materials, and $5,000,000 for the most hazardous commodities.
The MCS-90 obliges the insurer to pay any final judgment against the carrier for public liability caused by negligent operation of a covered vehicle, up to the limit on the endorsement and whatever the policy says, but not for injury to the carrier’s own employees or for cargo; the carrier must then reimburse the insurer for any payment the policy would not otherwise have required or that involved a breach of the policy’s terms.
What this means for you
- An MCS-90 on the policy is not a substitute for the right coverage. It is the reason a carrier can be uninsured for a loss and still see the insurer pay, and then receive a demand for that money.
- The most common way carriers discover this is an unscheduled or misdescribed vehicle. The MCS-90 responds to the injured party, and the reimbursement demand follows.
- It only reaches interstate operations subject to Part 387. Purely intrastate work is governed by the state filing instead, which is usually a Form E.
Related questions
- Does the MCS-90 cover my truck?
No. It guarantees payment to the public and nothing to you. Physical damage to your own equipment, and any loss your policy excludes, remain your problem: the endorsement simply means the injured party is paid first and you are billed after.
- Is the MCS-90 the same as the BMC-91?
No, though they travel together. The MCS-90 is the endorsement on your policy; the BMC-91 is the form your insurer files with FMCSA to prove that endorsement exists. One is the promise, the other is the evidence of it.
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 2026-10-04. See all guides.