The broker rejected our carrier packet because of insurance. What now?

When you submit a carrier packet, the broker or its onboarding platform is answering three questions: are you who you say you are, are you authorized, and is your insurance real and adequate for their freight.

Platforms describe this as continuous, not one-time. Truckstop's RMIS says it "verifies the submitted information" and "continuously monitors carrier compliance, providing automatic alerts for any changes in status or documentation" (RMIS). Highway describes validating "identity, authority, capability, insurance, and driver participation before, during, and after every load," and notes simply that "Insurance expires" (Highway).

In practice, that means your insurance is checked against at least three things:

1. The certificate of insurance your agent sends.
2. Your insurance filing on record with FMCSA, which brokers and the public can see through FMCSA's Licensing and Insurance system and the SAFER company snapshot.
3. The broker's own requirements: limits, cargo terms, and named parties.

If those three do not agree, the packet gets kicked back. Use the DOT lookup to see what the public record shows before you resubmit.

Below are the reasons we see most often, grouped by whether they are a paperwork fix or a coverage fix.

Name mismatch

FMCSA records list your legal name and any DBA. If your policy is in your personal name, an old company name, or a DBA that is not on your FMCSA record, an automated check will flag it. The fix is to correct the named insured on the policy, not just the certificate.

Filing mismatch

For interstate for-hire carriers, the insurer files proof of coverage with FMCSA. When more than one insurer is used to build up the required amount, each insurer files its own Form BMC-91X, and the filing stays in effect "continuously until terminated" (49 CFR 387.313T). If you changed insurers and the new filing has not posted, or the old one was cancelled before the new one landed, the platform may show no active insurance even though you are covered. See what is a BMC-91X filing and the filings guide.

Unit not scheduled

If your auto liability is written on a schedule of autos, the truck you are dispatching must be on it. Federal rules require an MCS-90 endorsement that pays a final judgment to the public "regardless of whether or not each motor vehicle is specifically described in the policy," but courts describe it as a suretyship, "not insurance" (Wesco v. Rich, 5th Cir. 2023). In one Fifth Circuit case, an insurer paid claims involving a tractor that had never been added to the policy and then recovered the settlement from the trucking company under the MCS-90 reimbursement clause (T.H.E. v. Larsen, 5th Cir. 2001). The broker's check for a listed VIN is protecting you as much as them. See what is MCS-90.

When a load is waiting, it is tempting to ask someone to "just make the certificate say it." Do not.

Texas law is direct. A certificate of insurance "is not a policy of insurance and does not amend, extend, or alter the coverage afforded by the referenced insurance policy" (§1811.152). It cannot reference requirements from another contract (§1811.154). And a certificate "executed, issued, or required" in violation of the chapter "is void and has no effect" (Tex. Ins. Code ch. 1811).

A certificate that shows coverage the policy does not have gets the load booked and leaves you exposed on the first claim. If the cargo limit or endorsement is not there, either change the policy or ask the broker for a documented exception.

1. Get the rejection reason in writing, field by field.
2. Look yourself up on SAFER or with our DOT lookup. Confirm your legal name, authority status and that an insurance filing shows.
3. Compare the certificate to the broker's requirement sheet. Holder name, limits, cargo, reefer, trailer interchange, additional insured.
4. Sort each item: paperwork fix (reissue today) or coverage fix (needs the underwriter).
5. For coverage fixes, ask for an endorsement with an effective date, then a new certificate that reflects it.
6. If you cannot meet a limit, ask the broker whether they grant exceptions for specific lanes or commodities. Some do, and some do not.

If rejections keep happening across multiple brokers, the problem is probably your policy structure, not the paperwork. A policy review can find the pattern.