5 Absolute Best Tips For Motor Truck Cargo Insurance

Do you need to ensure your commercial trucking business or fleet with motor truck insurance? Or are you an independent truck driver involved in the transportation of high-value commodities and you are worried about being held liable for any loss or damage to the cargo?

There is no need to worry as motor truck cargo insurance is a solution that anyone in all types of the commercial trucking business should have.

What Will Be Covered?

Motor truck insurance will cover you on any liabilityA financial obligation or debt owed by an individual or business to another entity, typically result... from loss or damage to your cargo or freight. This may be from an accident leading to damage of the cargo, fire, or theft. This insurance will cover the person transporting the cargo or the company transporting. It will provide protection on the damage or loss that occurred from the departure of the cargo until the shipment is over.

How does it work?

The truck owner or the transportation business buys a policy from a trucking insurance company for this type of policy that will cover the cargo up to a specific monetary limit. The policies that are in force at the time of damage or loss to the cargo, will provide coverage for the loss incurred. This will be to recover as close as possible to the entire amount of the damage or loss.

Motor truck cargo insurance has a requirement from state governments to make sure the trucker also purchases primary liability insuranceThe main auto liability coverage that protects against injuries or damage to other people or propert.... This liability insurance is responsible for covering damages and injuries done to other people and property.

This is for damage that takes place at the time the truck is involved in an accident and afterward after an assessment is done. Motor truck cargo insurance tends to remain the same over time without any major changes to their terms and policies.

Contract Carriers and Common Carriers

Motor truck cargo insurance will most often cover contracts and common carriers. The common carriers will include the trucker who delivers the cargo shipment to any person or organization. The contract carrierA carrier that enters into a contractual agreement with a shipper or broker to transport goods under..., on the other hand, includes the specific shipperThe person or company who is the originator of the shipment of goods, responsible for initiating a c... who is under the contract on motor truck cargo insuranceInsurance that covers the transporter for their responsibility in the event of damaged or lost freig....

In situations where common carriers are not covered by motor truck cargo insuranceInsurance that covers loss or damage to freight during transit, which is critical for motor carriers..., they will become liable for damages caused during shipment except for acts of God. The contract carriers will become liable only under the specified conditions laid out from the contract between the trucker and the shipper.

An act of GodNatural occurrences such as floods, earthquakes, or hurricanes that are typically excluded from stan... will include a variety of occurrences which would be unpredictable and nothing can be done to change its occurrence. This becomes an exception on both the contract carrierThe entity that physically transports the freight from one location to another, hired by a freight b... and common carrier. These are accidents in which no one had any influence over them and caused by nature. They include damages and losses caused by; wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, tornados, public enemy, improper cargo loadingAn additional cost built into the insurance premium to cover losses that are higher than expected fr..., and extreme weather states leading to spoilage of the cargo.

List of Goods or a Bill of Lading

In the case of cargo damage or loss, a copy of the bill of lading is supposed to be provided by a common carrier to the claim adjusterAn insurance professional who assesses vehicle damage, determines repair costs, and negotiates settl.... This will be used in filing a claimA formal request by a policyholder to an insurance company for coverage or compensation for a covere... to be indemnified by the truck insurance company on the loss or damage experienced. The bill of lading is a receipt indicating that you are covered as well as a shipping contract of the cargo being transported.

This document will indicate the date in which the cargo was being shipped, the shipment cargo and what it included, the destination the cargo was expected and the day the cargo was expected to be delivered. It will also include the value of the trucker’s liability insuranceCoverage that protects against claims resulting from injuries and damage to people and/or property.. On the other hand, the contract carriers will have their details indicated in the specific contract which requires being given to the claims adjusterAn insurance professional who evaluates the damage and determines the amount the insurance company s... when the claim is being filed. Motor truck cargo insurance protects your needs associated with the transportation of your cargo.

Purchasing motor truck insurance

The purchase of the motor truck cargo insurance will be dependent on a variety of items which determine the rules of the contract.

The set policies will differ depending on;

• The types of commodities being transported – Highly perishable goods on the cargo will contain a different policy compared to cargo with less perishable goods.
• The value of the cargo – Highly valued cargo contains different policies compared with a cargo of low value.
• Destination of the cargo – Some destinations are very sensitive and prone to more risks compared to others leading to differences in a contract policy.

Limitations To Consider

While purchasing a motor truck cargo insurance policy, the type of the commodity might include limitations and exclusions which can lead to high deductions and some limits towards your insurance policyA contract between an insurance company and the policyholder, which outlines the terms under which t.... ExclusionSpecific conditions or situations that are not covered by the insurance policy. For NTL, this often ... in a policy includes a case in which the insurance company may choose to keep an occurrence as exempt e.g. theft may be withheld from the coverage of the policy. In addition to this, they may also have some limitations on the policy in which the insurance company limits the amount they will indemnify the cargo. It will include the total in which the insurance company will pay on the policy.

There are some cargo shipments that are not included in a motor truck cargo insurancepolicy. Especially ones that are termed as difficult cargo e.g. high-valued commodities and those whose probabilities in damage cause is very high. The following will include these limitations;

• Jewelry
• Money
• Art
• Animals
• Tobacco
• Alcohol
• Explosives
• Paper
• Pharmaceuticals

In addition to this, commercial truck insurance will not cover any passenger in the transportation process as only the trucker is covered by the use of this policy.

If you need help in finding cargo insurance, check out  our comprehensive article about finding the best cargo insurance companies for my business today.