What is the difference between a deductible and a self-insured retention?

With a deductible the insurance company handles and pays the claim from the first dollar, then bills the fleet for the deductible. With a self-insured retention the fleet pays claims and defense itself up to the retention, and the policy responds only above it. A deductible keeps the insurance company in control of the claim; a retention hands that control, and that work, to the fleet.

Can a trucking company self-insure its liability completely?

A motor carrier can apply to FMCSA for self-insurance authority under 49 CFR 387.309, showing its financial condition, adequate tangible net worth for its size and a sound self-insurance program. It is a path for very large, well-capitalized fleets, and most still buy excess liability above what they retain.

What is a loss-sensitive program?

A program whose final cost depends on the fleet’s own losses during the policy period: large deductible plans, retrospectively rated plans and captives are the common forms. A good year returns money or lowers the cost; a bad one adds to it, sometimes for years while claims close. They suit fleets that trust their safety program and can carry the volatility.

A carrier authority letter, a lease agreement and a set of plates spread on a dispatch desk under a lamp, a tractor unit in the dark yard beyond

Should a trucking fleet take a high deductible or a self-insured retention?

It can make sense for a fleet with steady, predictable losses and the cash or credit to post collateral, because the fleet stops paying an insurance company to handle claims it could fund itself. With a deductible, the insurance company pays the claim and bills the fleet back; with a self-insured retention, the fleet pays claims and defense up to the retention before the policy responds. Both reward good years and cost more in bad ones.

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Tell us the situation.

One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.

We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.

Large fleets. Lori takes on only a few large fleets at a time, so each one gets a full renewal: the submission built properly and shopped with every insurance company that fits. Two openings remain for the rest of 2026.

/ Who handles this

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)

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Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.

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The detail

For-hire motor carriers of nonhazardous property in interstate commerce, in vehicles of 10,001 pounds or more, must carry at least $750,000 of public liability; oil and most other hazardous materials require $1,000,000, and hazardous substances carried in bulk require $5,000,000.
49 CFR 387.9, minimum levels of financial responsibility
A motor carrier may qualify with FMCSA as a self-insurer by filing Form BMC 40 and showing its financial condition, the adequacy of its tangible net worth in relation to the size of its operations, a sound self-insurance program that protects the public to the required minimum, and a satisfactory safety rating if it has been rated.
49 CFR 387.309, qualifications as a self-insurer

What this means for you

Collateral is the cost nobody quotes. The insurance company holds a letter of credit or cash against the deductibles it may have to bill back. That money is tied up for years after the policy ends, until the claims close.
The federal filing still has to be honored. The filing promises the public the full minimum limit, so a retention on primary auto liability is commonly written as a deductible the insurance company pays first and recovers from the fleet.
Claims handling becomes your job, or your vendor’s. Under a retention someone has to adjust and defend claims inside it, usually a third-party administrator the fleet pays.
Price the bad year, not the average one. Model the worst loss year in your history under the proposed structure. If the fleet could not fund it, the deductible is too high.
Physical damage is the easy place to start. A higher deductible on your own equipment, or none at all on older paid-off units, is a retention most fleets can predict and afford.

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.

Lori takes on only a few large fleets at a time, so each one gets a full renewal: the submission built properly and shopped with every insurance company that fits. Two openings remain for the rest of 2026.