Bobtail Insurance

Bobtail insurance provides liability coverage when you are operating your truck without a trailer and are not under dispatch. This commonly happens when you are driving to pick up a trailer, returning home after dropping a load, or running personal errands in your truck.

Many owner-operators confuse bobtail insurance with non-trucking liability. While both cover you outside of dispatch, bobtail insurance specifically applies when the truck has no trailer attached. Non-trucking liability covers personal use of the truck regardless of whether a trailer is connected. Some policies combine both, but it is important to understand the distinction.

If you are an owner-operator leased to a motor carrier, the carrier's insurance covers you while on dispatch. Once you drop your load and are no longer under dispatch, that coverage ends. Bobtail insurance fills the gap, protecting you during deadhead miles and personal use. Without it, a single accident while bobtailing could leave you personally liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.

Not the Same as Non-Trucking Liability

Bobtail is about equipment: driving the tractor with no trailer attached. Non-trucking liability is about purpose: personal use when you are not under dispatch, with or without a trailer. See Bobtail Insurance and Non-Trucking Liability side by side.

Example

You drop a loaded trailer at a Memphis warehouse for the carrier you are leased to, then drive the tractor alone to the truck stop where you will take your reset. No trailer and no load: that drive is bobtailing.