Contract or Common Authority

Common have a posted rate and charge everyone the same rate. Like UPS or Fedex.

Contract negotiate rates on each load.

But I am not sure that it matters much these days. I have seen people that are contract by definition under common.

 

I have common,Big John.

 

As long as you don't haul household goods,you won't be required to have cargo ins.,i think. But most all grain brokers want 75,000-100,000 to load me.

 

100,000 on Cargo insurance.

 

Yes-sir,i thought that was purty high too,since most loads are never worth over 10,000 unless i'm hauling a specialized mineral,which i rarely do. Most of my shippers are farmers though,and they hardly ever even ask about cargo ins.,but i'm mostly local.

 

Yup. Seems kind of odd to be required to have 100K in cargo insurance to haul 25 tons of crushed rock that the quarry sells for $7/ton.

 

If you are common carrier you are required to provide cargo insurance before they will allow your authority to go active. Contract is not required by law to have it but most brokers will require $100,000. Also, on you liability, $750,000 is required but brokers will look for $1,000,000.

I haul grain during harvest and depending on the elevator that I haul for they have different levels. But I am way above what they look for so it has not been an issue. I know Andersons has different requirerments for people just hauling during harvest vs. what I haul for them now. One of the strictest companies I have dealt with.

 

Motor Carrier (Common/Contract)
[Is an authorized for‐hire motor carrier that transports regulated commodities
for the general public for compensation.] This authority does not cover
household goods. This type of authority requires a minimum $750,000 primary
liability and minimum $5,000 of cargo insurance for gross vehicle weight 10,001
lbs. and up. For those with a gross weight of 10,000lbs and less, a minimum of
$300,000 primary liability is required.]

Since the ICC Termination Act of 1995 eliminated the distinction between
common carriers and contract carriers all for hire carriers are now
considered "motor carriers". Motor carriers may enter into contracts for
"specified services under specified rates and conditions". Although there
is no longer a distinction or additional cost when filling for motor carrier
authority the application process still requires you to specify whether you
are requesting common and/or contract authority.

The above comes from OOIDA's PDF file on getting your own authority.