Insurance Requirements for Transportation Service Providers

We recommend all applicants have a complete understanding of FEMA's insurance requirements before joining the FEMA Tender of Service Program (FEMA STOS Program) to make sure working for FEMA is a good fit for their business model.

FEMA requires $300,000 in cargo coverage for all modes of transportation a Transportation Service Provider (TSP).

This coverage must be valid during the application process and maintained for the entirety of the Program Year for a TSP to be eligible for FEMA loads.

Documenting Your Insurance

FEMA will only accept insurance documentation sent directly by your insurance provider.

Any insurance documentation uploaded to Logistic Supply Chain Management System (LSCMS) or sent directly from a Transportation Service Provider will not be accepted.
Your insurance documentation MUST specify which modes of transportation your policy covers, and those must match your TSP Registration Form.
Do not forget to tell your insurance provider your Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC). Insurance documentation must include your SCAC.

To help you request this information from your insurance provider, we've written sample text you can copy-and-paste into an email to your insurance provider:

Sample Email Text

FEMA requires an Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD) form to verify and validate that any potential Transportation Service Provider (TSP) has at least $300,000 of cargo insurance for all desired modes of transportation. Modes of transportation a TSP may offer to provide are: Truck Load (TL), Less than Truck Load (LTL), Air, Maritime, Rail, and Transportable, Temporary Housing Unit (TTHU).

Please note the following instructions:

Include the insured’s SCAC in addition to the company name. This is to reduce confusion between companies that have similar names
In the DESCRIPTION OF OPERATIONS/LOCATIONS/VEHICLES section, please specify the insured’s SCAC and clearly state which modes of transportation their cargo insurance covers (e.g. TL, LTL, etc.)
Please email the complete form to fema-transportation-programs@fema.dhs.gov and copy in the insured
In the subject line, please use the following format: “ACORD form [Insured company name] [Insured company SCAC]"

Note that if there are any issues with the ACORD form, FEMA will communicate directly with the insured.

Sample ACORD Form

For example, if you marked that you would like to provide Truckload (TL), Less than Truckload (LTL), and Maritime modes of transportation service for FEMA, then your insurance provider needs to provide a statement similar to the note in the "Description of Operations" section of this sample ACORD form.

Example of ACORD form that includes the required information: a cargo policy, policy number, dates of validity, and the amount of coverage, which must be at least $300,000 per shipment. In the notes section, the insurance provider lists the specific modes covered by the policy and provides the SCAC of the insured. Example note says: “Cargo policy number ABCD12345 with $300,000 cargo coverage covers the following modes per occurrence: TL: $300,000, LTL: $300,000, Maritime: $300,000. SCAC: ####.” — Example note says: “Cargo policy number ABCD12345 with $300,000 cargo coverage covers the following modes per occurrence: TL: $300,000, LTL: $300,000, Maritime: $300,000. SCAC: ####.”

Still have questions? Check out answers to the most frequently asked questions about insurance requirements.