Tennessee wants two different insurance filings on file before it will let you haul for hire inside the state. Most carriers have heard of one.
The first is the one everybody knows, the liability filing. The second is a cargo filing, and it’s the one that gets missed when someone says “yeah, we handle Tennessee.”
Here’s the thing about Tennessee intrastate authority. It isn’t hard to get. But the paperwork has more moving parts than people expect, and the part that trips carriers up is that someone else files it for you. Let’s break it down.
Who Issues Tennessee Intrastate Authority
The Tennessee Department of Revenue runs it, through its Motor Carrier section. Not the state police, not the highway patrol, not a PSC. If you’re thinking “I’ll just call the DOT,” you’re calling the wrong building.
The Department’s page says intrastate authority is what lets for-hire motor carriers (and private towing and wrecker services) use Tennessee’s public highways for intrastate transport. If you pick up and deliver inside Tennessee for pay, this is yours. If you also cross state lines, your federal authority is a separate thing, and we covered how it works in our new authority trucking insurance guide.
You apply through TNTAP, the state’s online system, or on paper. The Department lists three things you need: the completed application, a Designated Agent for Service of Process form, and proof of insurance.
The Two Filings: Form E and Form H
This is the part to read twice. Per the Department of Revenue, the insurance company, not you, furnishes the insurance forms.
| Filing | What it is | Who needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Form E | Uniform Motor Carrier Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability Certificate of Insurance | Applicants for Tennessee intrastate authority |
| Form H | Uniform Motor Carrier Cargo Certificate of Insurance | Carriers hauling general freight, household goods, or mobile homes (and all bus accounts) |
Source: Tennessee Department of Revenue, Intrastate Authority page.
Notice what that second row says. If you haul general freight, a cargo certificate goes on file too. That means your cargo coverage isn’t just a nice-to-have you negotiate with a broker. In Tennessee, for general freight, it’s part of getting authority in the first place.
Picture This
A new owner-operator in Memphis plans to haul general freight inside Tennessee. He buys liability, gets a certificate of insurance from his agent, and submits the application. The liability filing is in. The cargo filing isn’t, because whoever sold him the policy treated “insurance” as one item. His application can’t be completed, and his truck sits while it gets sorted out.
What Tennessee Intrastate Insurance Requirements Actually Say
The Department’s authority page doesn’t list dollar amounts. They’re in the state’s Motor Carrier rules, Tennessee Rule 1340-06-01-.07 (Schedule of Limits). Here’s what that rule sets (the current version took effect January 29, 2012). The $750,000 limit is written to apply to nonhazardous property in interstate, intrastate, or foreign commerce:
- Nonhazardous property carriers: $750,000.
- Property carried by vehicles under 10,000 pounds GVWR: $300,000.
- Cargo liability for intrastate motor common carriers: $5,000 for loss or damage on any one motor vehicle, and $10,000 aggregate at any one time and place.
Rule .06 adds that the insurer has to give 30 days’ notice of cancellation to the state. And it says the state applies the FMCSA’s insurance and surety bond forms to carriers under its jurisdiction.
Two things jump out. First, the $750,000 number matches the federal figure for non-hazardous for-hire freight in 49 CFR 387.9. If you’re coming from a state with a lower intrastate floor, like Missouri’s $300,000, don’t assume the same applies here.
Second, look at that cargo minimum. $5,000 per vehicle. That’s the legal floor, and it is not a number anyone should haul a load of freight on. Brokers and shippers commonly ask for much more than that, and your truck, your trailer, and your customer’s freight are worth a lot more than five grand. Treat it as the state’s minimum, not your plan.
Two Agencies, One Authority
Tennessee splits the job. The insurance rule says proof of insurance is filed with the Commissioner of Safety and Homeland Security. But the Department of Revenue is where you apply and renew, and state law has the Commissioner of Revenue suspend or revoke an intrastate permit when the Safety Commissioner asks. So the filing, the permit, and any enforcement can land with different offices. Ask your agent exactly where your certificate is being filed.
Fees and Permit Cards
The Department’s Motor Carrier Education Guide (January 2021 edition, so confirm current amounts in TNTAP before you budget) lists a one-time application fee of $50.00 and a per-vehicle fee of $8.00. An Intrastate Permit Card is issued for each registered vehicle. Renewals are handled in TNTAP, where you report your number of vehicles and sign and date the renewal.
Tennessee’s agency pages we reviewed don’t state a renewal deadline we can point you to, so we aren’t going to guess one. Ask the Motor Carrier section, or call us and we’ll tell you what we see on the accounts we file.
Why Tennessee Intrastate Authority Gets Dropped Without Anyone Noticing
The filings are made by your insurer. So when a policy changes, a payment bounces, or you switch carriers, nobody is watching the state side. You think you’re covered. The state thinks otherwise.
Rule .06 is why this matters. Tennessee requires evidence of insurance to be filed and kept in force, and the insurer must give the state notice before a policy is cancelled. A missed payment doesn’t just risk your coverage. It can put the filing behind your authority at risk too.
Filings like these are the part people forget to check, because the paperwork lives with the insurer and not with you.
Not Sure Your Tennessee Filings Are On Record?
We can check what’s filed for your authority and tell you if the Form E and Form H both line up with your policy. No pressure, no runaround.
What You Should Do Right Now
Ask your agent for the filing, not the certificate
A certificate of insurance is a piece of paper. A Form E on file with the state is what the application needs. Ask: “Is my Form E filed, and is my Form H filed?” If the answer is “let me check,” that’s worth knowing today.
Pull your cargo limit and read it out loud
If it’s close to the $5,000 minimum, you’re covered on paper and exposed in real life. Compare it to the most valuable load you’ve hauled this quarter.
Set up your Designated Agent for Service of Process
It’s a required form, and it’s the one people leave for last. Get it done with the application, not after.
Know your cancellation trail
Ask who gets the cancellation notice if a payment is late. If the answer is only “the state,” you want a reminder system on your side too.
The Bottom Line
Tennessee intrastate authority is a Department of Revenue process with two insurance filings instead of one, a federal-sized liability floor, and a cargo minimum that is far too low to rely on. None of it is complicated. All of it is easy to miss when you assume your agent has it handled.
We read the filings. We’ll tell you before you bind, not after something breaks. See our Tennessee trucking insurance page, or if you run in more than one state, our intrastate guides for Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan. Comparing quotes first? Start with how to compare trucking insurance quotes.
Or just call 800-885-6682.
