Reefer Florida: L&I, Then the Box

Last updated: 2026-11-11

federal BI&PD floor (typical)$750,000Not cargo insurance. Confirm the 49 CFR 387.9 row for this shipment.

start free trial · Look up the DOT · Look up the MC — then read the state checks below.

desk questions for this state

Is this a first-touch this season? If unused ≥ 30 days, new L&I and snapshot?
Does the census phone match the person dispatching this pickup?
Working reefer, set point written, recorder download contact named?
Breakdown coverage on the cargo policy for this named insured?
MC swap at the shed treated as a new lookup?

stop and do not cover

Covering on last season’s packet without a new L&I pull.
No breakdown coverage on produce or frozen.
Census phone unchanged in the email and a different voice on the unit.
MC swapped at pickup without a new check.

identity and the filing before the box

Winter produce, citrus, and I-95 / I-75 / I-4 import boxes still start with the same federal file as dry freight. Census codes 10, 18, and 23 (produce, meat, refrigerated food) are MCS-150 hints. They do not prove a working reefer is on a Florida shed today.

Peak-season desks skip the federal file when the cooler is waiting. That is how a warm load and the wrong MC land in the same folder. Run the USDOT on DOT lookup and the docket on MC number lookup. If the thread only has a produce-board handle, resolve the legal name on carrier name search.

Confirm Active property authority and the BMC-91 or BMC-91X on Licensing & Insurance the day you cover. Match legal name, MC, and DOT on the rate con to that record. Verifreta is a second opinion before booking. SAFER and L&I stay the confirmation sources.

MC / DOT resolved; L&I Active; BMC current; no pending cancellation before pickup.
Legal name on the rate con matches the docket.
Working reefer named, set point written, breakdown coverage on this insured.
First-touch this season treated as a new L&I pull, not last season’s packet.

harvest phones are not the census line

Peak months fill with new cells that are not on the MCS-150. Call the census telephone. Ask extra cells to conference the office. A produce-board handle is not a carrier.

If unused 30 days or more, new L&I and a fresh snapshot before cover. Last season’s rate con is not this season’s authority. Filings cancel in the quiet months too.

ports and the inland shed

Jacksonville, Port Everglades, Miami, and Tampa move refrigerated imports. The highway carrier still needs authority. Terminal access is separate. If the move is a container pull, use the drayage questions as well as the reefer questions.

Hurricane closures are logistics. They are not a reason to skip L&I. If the carrier wants to swap MC because “the other truck got out,” that is a new check.

breakdown coverage on short-notice produce

Federal BI&PD at $750,000 does not pay for a warm load. Require cargo plus refrigeration-breakdown coverage naming this motor carrier. Set point on the rate con. Pulp or a set-point photo at loading if the shipper cares.

reefer florida: L&I, then the box.