FedEx Contractors & Owner-Operators
The coverage terms your ISP contract assumes you already understand.
MCS-90, BMC-91, non-trucking liability, occupational accident — in plain terms, and how they fit together for route contractors and owner-operators.
If you run FedEx routes, your independent service provider agreement almost certainly names specific insurance requirements — minimum liability limits, cargo limits, proof of workers’ comp for any drivers you employ, and a certificate naming FedEx. Most of that paperwork gets handled once a year and then forgotten about, until a lapse in coverage puts your routes on hold or a claim exposes a gap nobody caught.
Renewal timing matters more for ISP contractors than for a typical small business: your insurance needs to stay continuously active against your contract year, not just renewed whenever it’s convenient. A gap of even a few days between an expiring policy and a new one can put your operating authority — and your routes — on hold.
In plain terms
The seven terms that actually matter.
MCS-90 endorsement
A federally required endorsement on your auto liability policy that guarantees an injured third party gets paid, even if something in your policy would otherwise exclude the claim. It protects the public — not you. If MCS-90 pays out on a claim your policy excluded, the insurer can come back and collect that money from you. It's a backstop for the person you hit, not a substitute for having the right coverage in the first place.
BMC-91 / BMC-91X filing
The paperwork your insurer files with FMCSA to prove you're carrying the federally required minimum liability coverage tied to your motor carrier authority. BMC-91 is filed by insurance companies; BMC-91X is filed by qualified self-insurers or sureties — as a contractor, you'll almost always see BMC-91. No active filing, no active authority — it's what actually turns your operating authority on and off from FMCSA's side.
Non-trucking liability
Covers your truck when it's not under dispatch — driving home after drop-off, running personal errands, heading to a shop for maintenance. The moment you're dispatched and hauling for FedEx or another motor carrier, their primary liability (or your own commercial auto policy, depending on your agreement) is what responds instead. Contractors who assume they're covered around the clock under one policy are often wrong about which policy actually applies at the moment of a loss.
Bobtail coverage
Related to non-trucking liability, but specific to running the tractor without a trailer attached — a common in-between state for route contractors moving between stops or heading back to base. Whether this is bundled into your non-trucking liability or needs to be confirmed separately depends on your policy, and it's worth asking about directly rather than assuming.
Trailer interchange
If you ever pull a trailer you don't own — interchanged from FedEx or another party under a trailer interchange agreement — this covers your liability for damage to that trailer while it's in your possession. Not every contractor needs it; it depends on whether your specific route ever involves swapping trailers rather than running your own.
Reefer breakdown
If your route includes temperature-controlled freight, a standard cargo policy typically won't cover spoiled product if the failure was mechanical — the refrigeration unit itself breaking down, rather than a wreck or theft. That's a separate endorsement, and it's an easy gap to miss if nobody asks about it specifically.
Occupational accident coverage
Florida workers' compensation is built around an employer-employee relationship. Independent contractor owner-operators who aren't classified as employees generally fall outside it — which leaves a real gap if they're hurt on the job with no coverage at all. Occupational accident coverage fills that gap with accident medical, disability, and accidental death benefits sized for a contractor's situation. If you have driver-employees rather than working solely as an independent contractor yourself, Florida workers' comp requirements likely apply to them directly — worker classification has real legal weight, and it's worth confirming your specific setup with your agent rather than assuming either way.
This is general information, not legal advice — worker classification and contract-specific requirements vary, and it’s worth confirming your own ISP agreement’s exact language with your agent before assuming how any of this applies to your operation.