What the insurance company does not want you to know is that the first number they mention is often not the full pot of coverage.

They will usually tell you there is just one policy, and for an interstate trucking company that number may be the federal minimum: $750,000 in liability coverage under FMCSA rules for most freight haulers.

What is actually true is that a truck crash in Michigan can involve several layers of money.

A for-hire interstate carrier generally must carry at least $750,000, but many carry $1 million or more. If the truck was hauling oil, fuel, chemicals, or other hazardous materials, the minimum can jump to $1 million or $5 million. On top of that, there may be an umbrella policy, a separate policy for the trailer owner, or coverage through another company if the driver was working under a different carrier's authority.

That matters in Kalamazoo-area winter wrecks on I-94, US-131, or during sudden Lake Michigan whiteout squalls, where fault can get spread among the driver, motor carrier, maintenance contractor, shipper, or sometimes a broker if it took on duties beyond simple load matching.

For a Michigan worker hurt while driving for work, there can also be workers' compensation and no-fault PIP in the mix. The truck insurer will act like those benefits cap the case. They do not. A seriously injured employee may still have a claim for pain and suffering and excess economic loss beyond no-fault limits.

The catch is evidence disappears fast. Carriers may overwrite electronic logging device data, dashcam footage, and dispatch records unless they are told to preserve them right away. In Michigan, the deadline to sue for injury is usually 3 years, but no-fault benefit claims have much shorter timing, including a 1-year notice rule.