Before you sign
Insurance on an Entertainer Coach Rental
Insurance is the question a tour manager asks before the rate, and the one a venue or promoter will ask you in turn. This page covers what a motorcoach operator carries, what a certificate of insurance is for, and what is and is not covered when your gear is on board.
What the operator carries
A passenger carrier operating interstate runs under its own US DOT number and is subject to the federal minimum liability levels for the vehicles it operates. Knights Coaches operates under its own authority, is registered with the FMCSA, and its record can be checked by anyone in the FMCSA SAFER system before a contract is signed.
The specific limits carried are stated on the certificate rather than on a web page, because they belong to a policy that renews and a page is the wrong place for a number that changes.
Certificates of insurance
A certificate of insurance is the document a venue, promoter or production company asks for. It names the policy, the limits and the period, and it can be issued naming a third party where a venue requires it.
Ask for it at booking rather than the week of the first date. Certificates naming an additional party take time to issue, and a load-in is a poor moment to discover a venue will not admit the coach without one.
Your gear, and what covers it
A carrier policy covers the vehicle and its operation. Instruments, production equipment and personal property travelling with you are yours, and they are covered by your own instrument or production policy rather than by the coach.
This surprises people, so it is worth stating plainly: if a guitar in a bay matters to you, it needs to be on your own policy. Gear moving in a trailer under a tour trucking booking is a separate arrangement again, and worth asking about specifically.
What to have settled before departure
The operating authority
Its own US DOT number and FMCSA registration, checkable in the SAFER system by you, your promoter or your production company.
The certificate
Requested at booking, not in the week of the show, and issued naming a venue or promoter where one requires it.
The driver standard
CDL with a passenger endorsement, a current DOT medical card and Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse enrollment.
Your own cover for gear
Instruments and production equipment sit on your policy. Anything moving under a trucking booking is worth asking about on its own.
Frequently asked questions
The carrier operates under its own US DOT number and FMCSA registration and carries the liability cover required of an interstate passenger carrier. The specific limits are stated on the certificate of insurance rather than published, because a policy renews and a page is the wrong place for a number that changes.
Yes, and it can be issued naming a venue, promoter or production company where one requires it. Ask at booking rather than in the week of the first date: certificates naming a third party take time to issue, and a load-in is a poor moment to discover the coach cannot be admitted without one.
No. A carrier policy covers the vehicle and its operation. Instruments, production equipment and personal property travelling with you belong on your own instrument or production policy. If a guitar in a bay matters to you, it needs to be insured by you.
Look the US DOT number up in the FMCSA SAFER system. It is public, it takes a minute, and it shows the operating authority and safety record of any interstate carrier. Any operator unwilling to give you their number is telling you something.
Trucking is a separate arrangement from the coach and worth asking about specifically rather than assuming it follows the same terms. Ask what covers the load before the trailer is packed, not after.
Drivers are covered under the carrier operation rather than individually, and they hold a CDL with a passenger endorsement, a current DOT medical card and Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse enrollment. Those are conditions of driving the vehicle at all.
In short
Operating authority you can check, a certificate issued in time for the venue that wants it, and a clear line between the carrier policy and your own cover for gear: settle those three at booking and insurance stops being the thing nobody raised until load-in.
Send your routing and get it priced
A dispatcher comes back with the coaches that fit, each priced against your schedule.