UIIA Insurance Requirements: Why $750,000 Won’t Get You Through the Gate

Reviewed by Cameron Pechia, Founder, WA Insurance License 71186
Last reviewed: 9/25/2026

Key takeaway: UIIA insurance requirements are the minimum coverage standards the Intermodal Association of North America sets for any trucking company that wants to interchange chassis, containers, or trailers with a railroad, ocean carrier, or leasing company. At minimum, that means $1,000,000 in auto liability and $1,000,000 in general liability, plus a specific interchange endorsement on the auto policy. None of it is optional, and none of it is satisfied by meeting the FMCSA's $750,000 floor. Cargo, trailer interchange, and workers' compensation limits stack on top and vary by which equipment providers you actually do business with. This applies to any fleet moving into drayage, port, or rail intermodal work, whether that's a first interchange agreement or an existing operation adding a new rail ramp.

Your fleet already carries $1,000,000 in auto liability. That's what your broker sold you, and it satisfies almost every shipper and broker contract you'll ever sign.

It doesn't satisfy the UIIA.

Not because the number's wrong. Because the policy has to say the right things in the right places: the right endorsement, the right additional-insured language, the right box checked on an ACORD 22. Get one of those wrong and your certificate bounces back from the Intermodal Association of North America while your rail ramp appointment sits on the calendar and your equipment sits at the gate.

I see this constantly with fleets moving into drayage for the first time. Solid coverage, built for over-the-road freight, never built for interchanging chassis and containers with a railroad or ocean carrier. Here's exactly what the UIIA requires, where the paperwork trips people up, and what to hand your agent before you try to sign on.

What Is the UIIA and Who Has to Meet Its Insurance Requirements?

The UIIA (Uniform Intermodal Interchange and Facilities Access Agreement) is the standard contract that governs how motor carriers interchange chassis, containers, and trailers with railroads, ocean carriers, and equipment leasing companies. The Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) administers it, and it covers over 13,000 trucking companies doing business with 58 equipment provider signatories, accounting for roughly 95% of intermodal equipment interchange across North America.

If your operation is going to pull a container off a rail ramp, run a chassis out of a port terminal, or do any drop-and-hook work involving someone else's equipment, you're signing the UIIA. One agreement covers every equipment provider you deal with instead of negotiating separate interchange terms with each railroad and steamship line individually.

Here's the part that catches fleets off guard: your UIIA insurance requirements are separate from your FMCSA operating authority insurance. You need both. Meeting one doesn't automatically satisfy the other.

How Much Auto Liability Insurance Does the UIIA Require?

The UIIA requires a minimum $1,000,000 combined single limit (CSL) auto liability policy, a full $250,000 above the $750,000 the FMCSA requires for most for-hire, non-hazmat freight operations at 10,001 pounds GVWR or more. That federal floor has held since 1985. The UIIA never had to wait on Congress to set its own number higher.

The policy type matters as much as the limit. It has to be written as "Any Auto," "Scheduled and Hired," or "All Owned and Hired." An "All Owned" or "Scheduled Only" policy gets rejected, no exceptions.

Every equipment provider your fleet does business with must be listed as an additional insured on that auto policy, not just the ones that require it on general liability too. Pull equipment from five rail ramps, and that's five additional insured listings your agent has to track and update.

Self-insured operations don't get a pass. Contact the UIIA office directly instead of going through the standard certificate process.

What Other Coverage Does the UIIA Require Besides Auto Liability?

Beyond auto liability, the UIIA requires general liability and, depending on which equipment providers you work with, cargo, trailer interchange, and sometimes workers' compensation. The auto and general liability minimums are fixed. Everything else runs on a per-provider basis.

How Much General Liability Does the UIIA Require?

General liability under the UIIA requires a minimum $1,000,000 per occurrence, and none of it can come from self-insurance. Some equipment providers also require you to be listed as an additional insured on that policy specifically, separate from the auto liability listing everyone requires. That figure lines up with the general liability coverage most shippers and brokers already expect outside of drayage work. What doesn't carry over automatically is the additional-insured piece. Your agent has to add each qualifying equipment provider by name.

What Cargo Insurance Does the UIIA Require?

Cargo coverage isn't a flat number across the UIIA. Most equipment providers require some form of motor truck cargo insurance, but the limit per vehicle and the deductible both vary by provider. A hundred thousand dollars is the figure you'll see most often. Some providers ask for more. There's no single number to plug into your policy and call it finished. Your agent has to check the requirement against every provider on your list.

What Does UIIA Trailer Interchange Insurance Require?

Trailer interchange insurance covers physical damage to non-owned equipment while it's in your care, custody, and control, and it has to include comprehensive, collision, fire, and theft coverage. Most equipment providers require it, and the limits swing hard by provider. Milestone Chassis Company and Milestone Equipment Company both currently require $42,000, the highest figure on the current list, while plenty of others sit between $15,000 and $25,000. We've written separately about who's on the hook when a trailer isn't yours and about the difference between trailer interchange and non-owned trailer coverage if you're not sure which one your operation actually needs.

Does the UIIA Require Workers' Compensation?

Not universally. Some equipment providers require workers' compensation at statutory limits, and some of those also require employer's liability coverage on top of it. Whether it applies to you depends entirely on which providers are on your list. Don't assume it's fixed. Confirm it.

What Is the Truckers Uniform Intermodal Interchange Endorsement (UIIE-1)?

The UIIE-1, or its equivalents CA23-17 and TE23-17B, is a hold-harmless endorsement that has to be added to your auto liability policy before the UIIA will accept your certificate. Any one of the three is acceptable. The current version is not optional. An outdated copy of the form gets treated the same as no form at all.

This is the single most common reason I see certificates bounce back. A fleet's coverage is otherwise solid. Limits are right. Additional insureds are listed. Everything looks complete. Then the agent submitting the ACORD 22 forgets to check the box confirming the endorsement is actually attached to the policy, not just referenced, and the whole submission stalls while the rail ramp appointment sits on the calendar.

If your agent hasn't written UIIA business before, ask directly whether the UIIE-1 (or CA23-17 or TE23-17B) is already on your policy. Don't assume a generalist trucking policy includes it by default. It usually doesn't.

How Do You Submit Proof of Insurance to the UIIA?

You submit UIIA proof of insurance as a single ACORD 22 Certificate of Insurance, filed online, not one certificate per equipment provider. The certificate holder is listed as the President of the Intermodal Association of North America. IANA has not accepted mailed insurance documents since October 2020, so this happens online or it doesn't happen.

Your agent needs to provide the NAIC number and AM Best rating for every insurance company on the certificate. If you're carrying an umbrella policy, it has to state exactly which underlying policies it sits over, or it won't get applied to your account.

One detail that trips up agents new to intermodal accounts: if your policy runs through Knights Specialty, Trisura Specialty, Trisura Insurance, Accredited Specialty, or, on a limited basis as of January 2026, Progressive, the UIIA requires extra confirmation sent directly from the insurance company within 24 hours of the certificate being submitted. Skip that step and your account sits in limbo no matter how correct the certificate looks.

What Happens If Your Insurance Lapses or Gets Cancelled Mid-Term?

A UIIA-covered policy requires 30 days advance notice of cancellation, or 10 days if the cancellation is for non-payment, under Section F.6 of the agreement. That's not a suggestion. It's a contractual obligation your agent has to endorse directly onto the policy, and the UIIA holds your account to it.

Here's the gotcha almost nobody knows until it bites them: the UIIA system expires policies at 12:01 a.m. on the expiration date, not 11:59 p.m. A fleet owner who thinks he has coverage until the end of the day is already lapsed by the time he wakes up.

Renewals need an effective date that lines up exactly with the old policy's expiration date. A policy expiring February 1 needs its replacement effective February 1, not February 2. One day of gap is enough to knock your account out of active status with every equipment provider on your list until it's fixed. And activation itself is provider-specific to begin with. Getting active in the UIIA system doesn't automatically make you approved with all 58-plus equipment providers. You still have to meet each one's individual requirements before you can do business with them.

None of this is complicated once someone walks you through it once. It just has to be done right the first time, because a bounced certificate doesn't only cost you paperwork. It costs you the appointment, the load, and sometimes the customer who was counting on you to show up ready. If you're moving into drayage, adding a rail ramp, or inheriting a UIIA account from a broker who never explained any of this, get your coverage and your compliance reviewed before you submit anything. Pullsure writes trucking insurance exclusively, and we can tell you in one conversation whether your current policy is UIIA-ready or whether it's going to bounce. Get a coverage review before you submit anything.

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