FMCSA · Motor Carrier
BMC-91
Motor Carrier Surety Bond (Public Liability)
Motor Carrier Surety Bond For Public Liability (FMCSA Form BMC-91)
FMCSA-filed surety bond providing the federal financial-responsibility coverage for a motor carrier — an alternative to MCS-90 endorsement-backed coverage.
Heads up: This is an FMCSA filing posted to SAFER — not a policy endorsement. A contract requiring an endorsement (for example MCS-90) is NOT satisfied by a filing alone.
What it does
BMC-91 is a surety bond, not an endorsement. It is filed with FMCSA by a surety company to provide the financial responsibility a motor carrier must demonstrate under 49 CFR 387.7. Carriers without traditional auto liability insurance may satisfy the requirement via a BMC-91 bond posted by an authorized surety. The filing appears on FMCSA's SAFER under the carrier's 'Active/Pending Insurance' panel. Critically: a BMC-91 satisfies the financial-responsibility filing requirement, but does NOT satisfy a vendor-side compliance rule that requires an MCS-90 endorsement attached to a policy. Bindly's verifier distinguishes these because shippers / brokers / 3PLs often write contracts that require an MCS-90 specifically, and the carrier showing a BMC-91 alone is non-compliant with that contract.
When you need it
- Motor carriers who self-insure or use a surety bond instead of traditional auto liability — required FMCSA filing for federal compliance.
- Shippers / brokers verifying that a carrier's filed financial responsibility appears on FMCSA SAFER.
- Compliance reviewers cross-checking whether a contract-required MCS-90 endorsement is actually in place vs. only the federal filing.
Common mistakes
- Substituting a BMC-91 for an MCS-90 when the contracting party required the MCS-90 endorsement specifically.
- Failing to confirm the BMC-91 appears as 'Active' on SAFER — pending or expired filings do not satisfy 49 CFR 387.7.
- Confusing BMC-91 (public liability) with BMC-84 (broker financial responsibility) — different filings serving different roles.
Verifying BMC-91 on a real certificate?
Bindly Compliance auto-verifies endorsement attachment, named parties, and edition dates on every COI we track. Description-only language and missing forms surface as deficiencies in your dashboard before they become claims.