What do Midland trucking companies need from their insurance?

The Railroad Commission's District 08 office is in Midland at 10 Desta Drive, and the RRC places both Midland and Ector counties in District 08. The volume difference with the rest of the state is large:

The loads that move out of Midland yards are mostly oilfield loads, and each one has its own insurance problem:

• Produced water and flowback. Vacuum and water trucks hauling to disposal sites. A spill while loading, on the road or while unloading can fall between your auto and general liability policies. See truck pollution liability.
• Crude oil. Crude is a listed hazardous material in 49 CFR 387.9, which raises the federal minimum to $1,000,000 for interstate for-hire carriage. See tanker truck insurance and hazmat trucking insurance.
• Frac sand. Pneumatic trailers and end dumps running high cycles on the same few roads.
• Pipe, tubulars and equipment. Flatbed, step-deck and heavy haul loads, some over legal size or weight. See flatbed trucking insurance and heavy haul insurance.
• Hotshots running parts and tools to location. See hotshot trucking insurance.

All of this is covered in more depth on oilfield trucking insurance.

Under RRC rules, anyone who transports non-hazardous oil and gas waste for hire, by any method other than pipeline, off the property where it was generated needs a waste hauler permit. The RRC says:

• the operator must have an active Organization Report (Form P-5),
• the applicant registers in the RRC's online system before applying, and
• permits renew every year, with a $250 initial and renewal fee.

The insurance tie-in is the named insured. The entity on the P-5 and the waste hauler permit should be the same entity on your auto policy, your Form E or BMC-91X filing, and the master service agreement with the operator. A mismatch is one of the most common reasons an oilfield certificate gets kicked back. See FMCSA and TxDMV insurance filings.

I-20 is Midland's freight spine, running east to Big Spring and Abilene and west to Odessa and Pecos. State Highways 349 and 158 run north and south through the county. TxDOT's 2024 I-27 implementation plan numbers the future interstate from Sterling City through Midland to Lamesa as I-27W, and notes that I-20 in Midland is one of the points where the I-27 system meets the Primary Highway Freight System.

The highway is not where most oilfield truck losses start, though. Lease roads are caliche, rutted after rain, dusty in dry wind, and shared with pickups, rigs and other heavy trucks. Common Midland losses include rollovers on soft shoulders, backing incidents on location, and wildlife or livestock strikes on rural roads at night. Those claims hit physical damage and liability, and loss frequency is what drives Permian renewals.

Many Midland trucking companies work directly for operators or service companies under a master service agreement. The MSA's insurance exhibit often asks for additional insured status, waivers of subrogation, primary and non-contributory wording, pollution coverage and an umbrella. Those requirements usually follow you to every lease the customer controls. See what is primary and non-contributory, what is a waiver of subrogation and trucking umbrella insurance. Have an attorney review the indemnity language itself.