Spill Cleanup Guide
Truck Fuel Spill Cleanup Insurance: Who Pays When a Saddle Tank Ruptures, and Which Coverage to Read
A split saddle tank puts diesel on the ground fast, and the cleanup starts before anyone has opened a policy. If you're asking about truck fuel spill cleanup insurance, start with the pollution wording inside your auto liability policy. On the standard ISO motor carrier form, that wording treats fuel from your own tanks differently from anything you were hauling. Your policy may not.
Who gets called after a truck fuel spill, and which reports are due
The first calls have nothing to do with insurance. Here's the order.
1.911 and the scene
Call 911 if anyone is hurt or fuel is running toward a drain or water.
2.The National Response Center, if fuel reaches water
40 CFR 110.6 says the person in charge of a facility must immediately notify the National Response Center at 800-424-8802 on learning of an oil discharge that violates the Clean Water Act. The trigger in 40 CFR 110.3 isn't a gallon count. It's a film or sheen on the water or the adjoining shoreline. Under 40 CFR 300.5, an onshore facility includes motor vehicles.
3.Your state's spill line
Look up your state environmental agency's number before you need it. In Indiana, IDEM answers a 24-hour spill line at (888) 233-7745 and points to the Indiana Spill Rule, 327 IAC 2-6.1. Its advice: when in doubt, call.
4.Your insurer, the same day
ISO's Motor Carrier Coverage Form (CA 00 20 10 13) asks for prompt notice of the accident. It also says the insured must incur no expense without the insurer's consent, except at the insured's own cost. Ask the claims line how it wants the cleanup contractor handled.
5.The accident register, but not the hazmat form
A crash that leaves a vehicle with disabling damage and on a tow truck is an accident under 49 CFR 390.5. It goes in the register you keep for 3 years under 49 CFR 390.15. PHMSA's interpretation 04-0239, dated October 28, 2004, says DOT Form F 5800.1 isn't required for fuel released from a motor vehicle's fuel tank, because that fuel is not "transported in commerce."
About that sheen. 40 CFR 110.1 defines it as "an iridescent appearance on the surface of water." The rainbow, in other words. See the rainbow, make the call.
Read the rules: 40 CFR 110.6, EPA's page on when to report an oil spill, IDEM's Emergency Response page, 49 CFR 390.15, 49 CFR 171.16 and PHMSA interpretation 04-0239.
Who pays for a diesel spill after a truck accident?
The bill comes to the carrier first.
Federal law, when oil reaches water: the Oil Pollution Act, at 33 U.S.C. 2702, says each responsible party for a facility that discharges oil into navigable waters or onto adjoining shorelines is liable for removal costs and damages. Its definitions, at 33 U.S.C. 2701, name the responsible party for an onshore facility as any person owning or operating it, and say a facility includes a motor vehicle used to store, handle or transport oil. Which law applies to a given spill is a question for the agencies and a lawyer.
Then there's your state. Indiana's IDEM says all spills require a spill response, regardless of reportability, and that timely reporting matters more than immediately determining fault. Respond first. Sort out fault later.
What a spill contractor's invoice is made of
We won't print a dollar figure for a diesel cleanup. We haven't found a public source we'd put our name next to. IDEM's guidance on selecting a spill contractor says costs vary and are difficult to estimate. It advises discussing them up front: mobilization fees, personnel, equipment and waste disposal. It also warns that a contractor with no pre-existing contract often requires a down payment before it mobilizes.
Its first suggestion is to check whether your company already has a pre-selected contractor.
Does any of this come back to you from a policy? That depends on what spilled and what your policy says. Our guide to trucking insurance after an accident covers claims in general.
What the liability policy says about fuel from your own tanks
For truck fuel spill cleanup insurance, the coverage part to open is auto liability. Cargo insurance is about the freight. Physical damage is about your own tractor and trailer.
We'll quote one form, because a full copy is public: ISO's Motor Carrier Coverage Form, CA 00 20, 10 13 edition. Yours may use another edition, the insurer's own form, or an endorsement that changes the wording.
The form's liability section addresses a "covered pollution cost or expense": a cost arising out of a request, demand, order or statutory or regulatory requirement to test for, clean up, remove or contain pollutants. One condition is attached. There must also be bodily injury or property damage the insurance applies to, caused by the same accident.
Then comes exclusion 11, Pollution. Part a. takes out pollutants being transported or towed by the covered auto. The next paragraph carves fuel back out. Part a. "does not apply to fuels, lubricants, fluids, exhaust gases or other similar 'pollutants' that are needed for or result from the normal electrical, hydraulic or mechanical functioning of the covered 'auto' or its parts," if they escape directly from a part "designed by its manufacturer" to hold them and no listed mobile equipment is involved.
The definition of covered pollution cost or expense repeats both paragraphs, the carve-out for transported pollutants and the fuel exception, for cleanup costs. Exclusion 11 itself speaks of bodily injury and property damage.
| Where it's written | Diesel from the truck's own tank | Cargo that spills |
|---|---|---|
| Paragraph a. of exclusion 11 and of the cleanup-cost definition, form CA 00 20 10 13 | Does not apply to fuels needed for the normal functioning of the covered auto. | Applies to pollutants being transported or towed by the covered auto. |
| Environmental restoration, 49 CFR 387.5 | Not named. | Named: any commodity transported by a motor carrier, including the cost of removal. |
| Hazmat incident report, 49 CFR 171.16 | Not required, per PHMSA interpretation 04-0239. | Required for an unintentional release of a hazardous material, with listed exceptions. |
Here's the catch. Exclusion 6, Care, Custody Or Control, takes out a covered pollution cost or expense involving property owned or transported by the insured or in the insured's care, custody or control. Read it if the spill is on your own lot.
Where the MCS-90 fits, and where it doesn't
The MCS-90 is the endorsement 49 CFR 387.7 lists as proof of a motor carrier's financial responsibility. Its full name is Endorsement for Motor Carrier Policies of Insurance for Public Liability under Sections 29 and 30 of the Motor Carrier Act of 1980. Nobody has said that out loud twice.
49 CFR 387.5 says public liability "includes liability for environmental restoration." It defines that as restitution for the loss, damage or destruction of natural resources arising out of the accidental discharge "of any commodity transported by a motor carrier," including the cost of removal.
First, the definition names a commodity transported. It doesn't name fuel in the truck's own tanks. Whether a saddle tank spill fits is a question for your insurer and, if it comes to that, a court.
Second, FMCSA's Form MCS-90 says its public liability insurance does not apply to "property transported by the insured, designated as cargo." The lost load itself is a question for your motor truck cargo coverage.
Third, the insurer agrees to pay a final judgment for public liability within the endorsement's limits. Then comes the sentence to read slowly: "The insured agrees to reimburse the company" for any payment the company would not have been obligated to make under the policy except for the endorsement.
Our MCS-90 endorsement explainer covers the form in more detail. If you haul fuel or chemicals, start with tanker truck insurance and hazmat truck insurance.
A worked example: a ruptured saddle tank on a dry van
Say a tractor pulling a dry van drifts onto the shoulder of a state road, and a guardrail post opens the driver-side saddle tank. In this made-up case the tank held 90 gallons. Diesel runs into a creek and leaves a sheen. Nobody is hurt. The load, palletized paper towels, never moves. The tractor has disabling damage and leaves on a tow truck.
1.The calls and the reports
911 first. Then, because there's a sheen on water, the National Response Center and the state spill line. No DOT Form F 5800.1 for the fuel, under PHMSA's letter. The tractor was towed, so the crash goes in the accident register.
2.The contractor
A spill contractor contains the fuel and removes what it soaked into. Going by Indiana's IDEM guidance, expect talk of mobilization, personnel, equipment and disposal costs, and maybe a down payment. The invoice is addressed to the carrier.
3.The claim
The carrier reports the accident the same day and sends its insurer the state's cleanup demand. On form CA 00 20 10 13, the adjuster reads three passages: the definition of covered pollution cost or expense, including its own fuel paragraph, the matching paragraph in exclusion 11, and the same-accident condition. Here the bent guardrail is damage to someone else's property. Whether that satisfies the condition, and what the policy pays, is the insurer's decision under the policy's wording.
Now change one fact. Put drums of hydraulic oil in that trailer and split two open. For the drums, the paragraph to read is a., in exclusion 11 and again in the definition, because the oil was being transported by the covered auto. The MCS-90's environmental restoration wording comes in too, reimbursement sentence included.
What to check on your own policy this week
- The form number and edition at the bottom of your liability form, and any endorsement with pollution in its title. If the form isn't CA 00 20 10 13, the wording quoted here may differ.
- Auxiliary tanks. If the truck's manufacturer didn't install yours, ask your agent in writing how the insurer reads "designed by its manufacturer."
- The claims phone number, the National Response Center number and your state's spill line, written down in the cab.
Frequently asked questions
Does truck insurance cover a diesel spill from my own fuel tank?
It depends on the pollution wording in your auto liability policy. On ISO's Motor Carrier Coverage Form, the carve-out for pollutants being transported by the truck does not apply to fuel the truck needs to run, if it escapes from a part the manufacturer designed to hold it. Your policy may read differently.
What are the fuel spill reporting requirements for a trucking company?
If oil causes a film or sheen on water, 40 CFR 110.6 requires an immediate call to the National Response Center at 800-424-8802. EPA notes that states may have separate reporting requirements.
Do I have to file a DOT hazmat incident report for a saddle tank spill?
PHMSA's interpretation 04-0239 says no report on DOT Form F 5800.1 is required for fuel released from a motor vehicle's fuel tank, because that fuel is not transported in commerce. It adds that EPA reporting may still apply.
Does the MCS-90 cover environmental restoration after a fuel spill?
The MCS-90's definition of environmental restoration is written around the accidental discharge of any commodity transported by a motor carrier. It does not mention fuel in the truck's own tanks. The insured also agrees to reimburse the insurer for payments the policy itself would not have required.
Do I need separate trucking pollution liability coverage?
That depends on what you haul. ISO's Motor Carrier Coverage Form carves out pollutants being transported by the truck, in its pollution exclusion and again in its cleanup-cost definition. If your freight is fuel, chemicals or waste, ask your agent how your policy handles that wording.
Want to know what your policy says before a tank splits?
Send us your USDOT number, your current declarations page and the forms list from your liability policy. We'll tell you which form you're on, point you to its pollution wording, and quote the markets that fit what you haul.