The truck is covered. The one you bought Tuesday might not be.
Every commercial auto policy prints a small number beside each coverage. Those numbers — covered auto symbols — decide which vehicles that coverage actually applies to, and they're the most consequential thing on the page almost nobody reads. On a policy written for specifically described autos, a vehicle is uninsured until somebody calls and adds it. Here's how the symbols work, why hired and non-owned auto is the gap most businesses miss, and what Arkansas law says about uninsured motorists on a business vehicle. We shop it across 40+ carriers.
The short answer
Commercial auto covers liability, physical damage and uninsured motorist exposure on vehicles used for business — and which vehicles it reaches is set by the covered auto symbols printed beside each coverage, not by the word "commercial" on the policy. A personal auto policy stops well short of business use, and a business with no vehicles at all still has exposure the moment an employee runs an errand in their own car. In Arkansas, uninsured motorist coverage must be provided unless it was rejected in writing — and that rejection stays in force until it's withdrawn in writing.
Read the little numbers on your declarations page.
Symbols can differ from one coverage to the next on the same policy. Liability may be written broadly while physical damage reaches only the listed units. Both are printed on the dec page.
What the symbols mean, in the order they matter.
Beside each coverage on a commercial auto declarations page sits a number. That number is the covered auto symbol, and it defines the universe of vehicles that coverage applies to. These are standard across the industry:
Symbol 7 is where businesses get hurt, and it's extremely common because it prices well. A policy on symbol 7 covers the trucks listed on it. Buy a van on Tuesday, put it to work Wednesday, wreck it Thursday — and unless somebody called the agency in between, there is nothing to claim against. Symbol 2 and symbol 1 both pick up newly acquired vehicles automatically, usually subject to a reporting window.
The reason this matters more than almost any other detail: nothing on a renewal notice tells you which symbol you have, and two policies quoted at similar premiums can be built on entirely different symbols. It is the first thing we read on a competing policy and the first thing worth checking on your own.
A business with no vehicles still has a vehicle problem.
This is the single most common hole in a small business insurance program, and it exists for a completely reasonable reason: the business doesn't own a car, so nobody buys auto insurance. Then an employee picks up supplies, drives to a customer, drops a deposit at the bank, or runs to the post office in their own vehicle — and causes a serious accident.
The injured party doesn't stop at the employee. They pursue the business too, because the errand was for the business. And the employee's personal auto limits are usually modest, which means the money has to come from somewhere. Arkansas is an at-fault state, so the party responsible for the accident is the party who pays — and a business makes a considerably more attractive defendant than an employee does.
Hired and non-owned auto coverage is the answer, and it's usually just covered auto symbols 8 and 9 added to a policy. Hired covers vehicles the business rents, leases or borrows. Non-owned covers employees' personal vehicles used for business. Two clarifications people always need: it's liability coverage protecting the business, so it doesn't repair the employee's car and doesn't replace their personal policy — and a business with no owned vehicles can frequently add it to a business owners policy or general liability policy rather than buying a standalone commercial auto policy.
Where a personal auto policy stops covering business driving is its own question, and we've written it up separately: does my personal auto policy cover driving for work?
What Arkansas law says about your business vehicles.
Arkansas is an at-fault tort state. The driver responsible for a crash — and the business behind that driver — is responsible for the damages. There is no no-fault threshold to clear first, and no cap that keeps a serious injury claim inside a small liability limit.
The state's minimum financial responsibility limits are 25/50/25: twenty-five thousand dollars of bodily injury per person, fifty thousand per accident, twenty-five thousand of property damage. For a business vehicle those numbers are a legal floor and very little else. A single modern pickup can exceed the property damage minimum by itself, and one seriously injured person can exhaust the bodily injury limit before the case is argued. Most commercial policies are written well above the minimum for exactly that reason.
Uninsured motorist coverage is where Arkansas law gets specific, and where businesses are most often surprised. Under Ark. Code § 23-89-403, an automobile liability policy issued on a vehicle registered or principally garaged in Arkansas has to provide uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage — at not less than the limits referenced in § 27-19-605 — unless a named insured rejects it in writing. That section is written around motor vehicles generally rather than private passenger vehicles specifically, so it reaches business autos garaged here.
Two consequences worth acting on. First, and this is the one that catches people: a written rejection continues until it is withdrawn in writing. A rejection signed by a previous owner, a previous manager, or by you in a hurry six years ago is still operating on the policy today, and no renewal notice will mention it. Second, underinsured motorist coverage lives in a different section — Ark. Code § 23-89-209 — which by its own terms addresses private passenger automobile liability insurance, and which also provides that underinsured coverage isn't available unless uninsured coverage has been elected. The practical instruction for a business owner is simply this: ask for both by name and confirm what's actually on the policy. Don't assume either one is riding along.
This matters more here than the statute alone suggests. Roughly one Arkansas driver in six is uninsured. When one of them hits your truck, uninsured motorist coverage is the only thing standing between your driver's injuries and your own balance sheet.
Cross the state line and the rules change.
Everything above is Arkansas law. Cribb Insurance Group is licensed in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas, and each of those states handles minimum limits, uninsured and underinsured motorist requirements, rejection rules and coverage stacking differently. A vehicle registered or principally garaged in Oklahoma is governed by Oklahoma's rules, not Arkansas's — and in Bentonville that's a twenty-minute drive, so it comes up constantly.
Federal rules are the exception that runs the other way: the DOT financial responsibility requirements for interstate motor carriers apply the same in all four states. Everything else varies. None of this is legal advice. If your vehicles, drivers or jobs cross a state line, talk to a licensed agent about how each state treats your specific situation before you assume the coverage travels with you — (479) 286-1066.
Six coverages, and they don't all use the same symbol.
Each of these is priced and symboled separately. A policy can be generous on one and narrow on the next.
Liability
Bodily injury and property damage the business is legally responsible for. Usually written as a combined single limit rather than split limits, and this is where contracts specify required amounts.
Physical damage
Collision, comprehensive and specified causes of loss on your own units. Often written on a stated amount basis for trucks and specialty equipment, which is worth understanding before a total loss rather than after.
Uninsured & underinsured motorist
Protection when the at-fault driver has no coverage or not enough. In a state where roughly one driver in six is uninsured, worth carrying rather than rejecting — and worth checking, because an old written rejection is still in force.
Hired & non-owned auto
Rented, leased and borrowed vehicles, plus employees driving their own cars for business. The coverage a business without vehicles still needs, and the one most often absent.
Medical payments
Limited no-fault medical coverage for occupants of your vehicles regardless of who caused the accident. Modest limits, but it responds quickly and without an argument about liability.
Certificates & additional insured
Customers and general contractors routinely require both, plus specific limits, primary and non-contributory wording, or a waiver of subrogation. A certificate alone doesn't change the policy — see certificates of insurance.
Three things it won't do.
Your driver's injuries
An employee hurt in a crash while working is a workers compensation claim, not an auto liability claim. Two policies, two adjusters, one accident. See workers compensation.
What's in the truck
Freight you're hauling for someone else needs cargo coverage. Tools and equipment you own are frequently inland marine rather than auto physical damage — a distinction contractors discover at the worst possible time.
Anything undisclosed
An unlisted vehicle on a specifically-described-autos policy. A driver removed by exclusion endorsement. A use the carrier was never told about — the service van that started making deliveries. These are the ordinary reasons a commercial auto claim gets denied.
When the vehicle is the business.
Standard commercial auto stops being the right answer once you're hauling for hire, running under operating authority, or filing with the DOT. These pick up where this page ends.
Do you need DOT authority and federal filings?
It depends on what you haul, vehicle weight and whether you cross state lines. In broad terms, most for-hire carriers moving property in interstate commerce fall under 49 CFR Part 387, which sets minimum public liability at $750,000 for general freight, $300,000 where the entire fleet is under 10,001 pounds gross vehicle weight rating, and $5,000,000 for certain hazardous materials. Carriers subject to those rules generally need the MCS-90 endorsement attached and proof of coverage filed with the agency.
Those are federal requirements, so unlike the Arkansas rules above they apply identically across Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas. If any of it describes your operation, the trucking page handles authority, filings and radius properly — and this page probably isn't the one you need.
Most commercial auto problems are paperwork problems.
The recurring failures on this line are almost never exotic. A vehicle bought and never added to a specifically-described-autos policy. A driver never added, or one still listed who left two years ago. An old uninsured motorist rejection nobody remembers signing. No hired and non-owned coverage at a business whose staff drive their own cars daily. Physical damage written on a stated amount that stopped matching the truck's value. A certificate promising limits or additional insured status the policy doesn't actually provide, which surfaces when the customer's risk manager reads it.
What we do about it: read your covered auto symbols and tell you plainly what they reach, inventory drivers and units before marketing rather than after, put the same specification in front of multiple carriers so the quotes compare honestly, check whether uninsured and underinsured motorist are on or off and why, and review contract insurance requirements before a certificate is issued rather than when one is demanded. We don't adjust your claim and can't overrule an adjuster — but we build the policy to respond, across 40+ carrier markets rather than one company's appetite. Vehicle, driver and radius acceptability differs sharply by carrier and changes often, so ask us rather than working from a general rule.
Priced off the vehicles and the people driving them.
Commercial auto premium turns on the number, type, weight and value of the vehicles, what each is used for, how far and where they travel, the number of drivers and their motor vehicle records and experience, the liability limit and whether contracts dictate it, physical damage deductibles, the covered auto symbols themselves, prior loss history, whether the operation crosses state lines or holds operating authority, and whether telematics is in use. Driver records move this line harder than most owners expect — a clean roster and a written driver-screening standard are worth real money at renewal. Worth saying plainly: price is not the only comparison here. Two quotes at similar premiums can carry entirely different symbols, and that difference decides whether a newly bought truck is covered. This isn't a quote or a guarantee.
What usually sits next to it.
Commercial auto questions.
What are covered auto symbols and why do they matter?
They are the numbers printed beside each coverage on the declarations page, and they decide which vehicles that particular coverage applies to. They are the most important thing on a commercial auto policy and almost nobody reads them.
Symbol 1 means any auto. Symbol 2 means owned autos only. Symbol 7 means specifically described autos, which is to say the vehicles listed on the policy and nothing else. Symbol 8 is hired autos and symbol 9 is non-owned autos. The symbols can differ from one coverage to the next on the same policy, so liability might be written broadly while physical damage applies only to listed units. The practical consequence is the one that hurts. On a policy written with symbol 7 for liability, a truck bought on Tuesday is not covered until somebody calls and has it added. Nothing about the policy announces that.
Does my personal auto policy cover driving for work?
Only up to a point, and the point arrives earlier than most people think. Commuting is generally fine. Ordinary errands are usually fine. What personal auto policies commonly exclude is delivery, livery, and vehicles used regularly in a business, and a vehicle titled to a business rather than to a person frequently does not belong on a personal policy at all.
The exposure that catches employers is different from the one that catches drivers. If an employee runs a company errand in their own car and causes a serious accident, the injured party can pursue the business as well as the employee, and the employee's personal limits are usually modest. That claim reaches the business regardless of who owned the car. Hired and non-owned auto coverage is what answers it.
What is hired and non-owned auto coverage?
Two related coverages that handle vehicles the business uses but does not own. Hired auto covers vehicles the business rents, leases or borrows. Non-owned auto covers employees' personal vehicles when they are used for business. Together they are usually added as covered auto symbols 8 and 9.
It is the coverage most often missing from a small business program, because the business genuinely has no vehicles and reasonably concludes it does not need auto insurance. Then somebody picks up supplies, drives to a client, makes a delivery, or runs to the bank. Two clarifications worth having. This is liability coverage for the business, so it does not repair the employee's car and does not replace the employee's own auto policy. And a business with no owned vehicles at all can usually add it to a business owners policy or general liability policy rather than buying a standalone commercial auto policy.
Is uninsured motorist coverage required on a commercial auto policy in Arkansas?
Arkansas Code § 23-89-403 requires uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage to be provided on automobile liability policies covering vehicles registered or principally garaged in Arkansas, at not less than the limits referenced in § 27-19-605, unless a named insured rejects it in writing. That section is written around motor vehicles generally rather than private passenger vehicles specifically.
Two practical points follow. First, a written rejection continues until it is withdrawn in writing, so a rejection signed years ago is still operating on the policy today and no renewal notice will remind you. Second, underinsured motorist coverage sits in a different section, § 23-89-209, which by its own terms addresses private passenger automobile liability insurance, and which also provides that underinsured coverage is not available unless uninsured coverage has been elected. The upshot for a business is to ask for both by name and confirm what is actually on the policy rather than assuming either one rides along. This is general information about Arkansas law and not legal advice, and requirements in Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas differ.
Do I need a DOT number and federal filings?
That depends on what you haul, how heavy the vehicle is and whether you cross state lines, and it is genuinely a separate subject from a standard commercial auto policy. In broad terms, most for-hire motor carriers moving property in interstate commerce fall under the federal financial responsibility rules in 49 CFR Part 387, which set a minimum of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars of public liability for general freight, three hundred thousand where the entire fleet is under ten thousand and one pounds gross vehicle weight rating, and five million for certain hazardous materials.
Carriers subject to those rules generally need the MCS-90 endorsement attached and proof of coverage filed with the agency. These are federal requirements, so they apply the same way across Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas. If any of this describes your operation, the trucking page covers authority, filings and radius properly.
What does commercial auto insurance not cover?
It does not cover an employee's injuries while working, which is workers compensation. It does not cover damage to the property of others in your care that has nothing to do with a vehicle accident, and cargo you are hauling for others is its own coverage rather than part of the auto policy. Tools and equipment carried in the vehicle are frequently inland marine rather than auto physical damage, which surprises contractors regularly.
Wear and tear, mechanical breakdown and intentional acts are excluded. And the exclusion worth naming plainly: vehicles, drivers and uses that were never disclosed. An unlisted vehicle on a specifically-described-autos policy, a driver excluded by endorsement, or a use the carrier was never told about are the ordinary reasons a commercial auto claim is denied.
How do I get a commercial auto insurance quote?
Start the commercial quote form or call (479) 286-1066. Have the vehicle and driver detail ready, because commercial auto is quoted off both.
Useful to have: year, make, model and vehicle identification number for every unit, the stated or actual value of each, what each vehicle is used for and how far it travels, whether anything is titled to the business, every driver with date of birth and license number, whether employees ever drive their own vehicles for work, whether the business rents or borrows vehicles, whether you cross state lines or hold operating authority, any contract that requires specific limits or additional insured status, and currently valued loss runs. A current declarations page answers most of it at once, and it is also the fastest way for us to read your covered auto symbols.
If our coverage explainers are useful, mark Cribb Insurance as a preferred source so more Northwest Arkansas business owners can find our local, plain-English guides.
Send the dec page. We'll read the symbols first.
Before the premium, before anything else — we check which covered auto symbols your liability and physical damage are written on, whether every vehicle and driver is actually listed, whether uninsured motorist was rejected in writing at some point nobody remembers, and whether hired and non-owned auto is on there at all. If your people drive their own cars for work, that last one matters even if the business owns nothing.
Cribb Insurance Group Inc. is an independent insurance agency licensed in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas. This page describes commercial auto insurance in general, industry-standard terms for informational purposes only. It is not a policy, not an offer of insurance, and not a guarantee of coverage, availability, eligibility, or price. Agency licensure is not the same as carrier appointment; product and carrier availability differ by state, by line and over time.
About the Arkansas law described on this page. References to Ark. Code §§ 23-89-403, 23-89-209 and 27-19-605 are general summaries of Arkansas statutes as they read at the time of writing and are provided for information only. They are not legal advice, not a legal opinion, and not a substitute for reading the statutes or consulting an attorney. Statutes are amended, and courts interpret them; how any provision applies to a particular policy, vehicle or claim depends on the policy language and the facts. Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas each set their own minimum limits, uninsured and underinsured motorist requirements, rejection and stacking rules, and filing obligations, and those rules differ from Arkansas's. A vehicle registered or principally garaged outside Arkansas is generally governed by the law of that state. If your vehicles, drivers or operations cross a state line, speak with a licensed insurance agent and, where appropriate, an attorney about your specific circumstances before relying on anything described here.
References to 49 CFR Part 387 and to federal minimum levels of financial responsibility, the MCS-90 endorsement and federal filings are general summaries of federal motor carrier requirements and are not a determination that any particular operation is or is not subject to them. Applicability depends on commodity, vehicle weight, commerce type and operating authority. Confirm your obligations with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and qualified counsel.
Liability, physical damage, uninsured and underinsured motorist, medical payments, hired and non-owned auto and all other coverages, along with covered auto symbols, limits, deductibles, valuation methods, definitions of an insured, driver eligibility, endorsements, conditions and exclusions, are set by the carrier, vary by state and by policy and over time, are subject to the carrier's underwriting approval and eligibility, and apply only as written in the policy actually issued to you. Covered auto symbol descriptions on this page summarize standard industry forms; carriers file independent programs that may number, define or restrict them differently. Coverage does not apply to vehicles, drivers, operations or uses that have not been disclosed to and accepted by the carrier. Cargo, tools, equipment, employee injuries, and property in your care, custody or control generally require separate coverage. A certificate of insurance is evidence of coverage and does not by itself amend the policy or confer additional insured status. Any cost or coverage descriptions are general and illustrative, not a quote, and not a guarantee; your premium and coverage are determined at quote and by the policy issued.
Last reviewed July 2026.