Do you want to protect your trucking business with motor truck cargo insurance?
Don’t worry, This blog caters to your needs. To have good motor truck cargo insurance for your vehicle is the need of the hour as there are so many risks associated with the way of commercial vehicles. The transportation business is so risky that you need a perfect protection plan to save your business in the long run. The damage cost of these trucks is so high that can be a big hole in your pocket and your business may suffer.
So, having motor truck cargo insurance is mandatory for the smooth running of your business. Before knowing the things to choose for motor cargo insurance, Let’s first read what will be covered in this sort of insurance.
Coverages Under Motor Truck Cargo Insurance
Any type of loss or damage to your cargo or freight will be covered by this category of insurance. The cause behind this can be an accident, fire hazard, or theft. The coverage of the cargo is considered from its starting point to the end of the shipment.
The policy of motor truck cargo insurance depends on a variety of items that are discussed below:
- Type of commodities or goods being transported.
- The overall value of the cargo.
- The final place of the shipment where it is to be transported.
There are a few exclusions from the motor truck cargo insurance policy which can set some limitations to your truck insurance plan. Also, there are some cargo shipments that are difficult to be shipped, So they are not included in the cargo policy. Like many high-value items which can cost a lot to the insurance company. Some examples of this are:
- Jewelry
- Animals
- Tobacco
- Alcohol
- Explosives
- Pharmaceuticals
The truck insurance policy doesn’t cover any passengers traveling in the truck. The coverage is for truck drivers only. While you have read some important information about cargo insurance, Let’s have a look at significant things to choose motor truck cargo insurance!
5 Important Things to Know to Choose a Motor Truck Cargo Insurance
Insurance is a necessity for trucking businesses, even the agent will ask for it before hiring your truck. Thus we have collected these points to keep in mind when it comes to choosing a truck cargo insurance. Let’s read them!
Understand the Types of Motor Truck Cargo Insurance
To control the shipping of goods connecting states and countries, there are two main variations of the motor truck cargo insurance discussed:
Land Cargo Insurance: The cargo to be transported within the boundaries of a country is given protection under this set of insurance. The coverages under this include theft, collision, and any accidental damage to goods.
Marine Cargo Insurance: This cargo insurance comes into play when the goods are to be transported by sea or air. The damage to the goods in marine cargo includes damage due to extreme weather, loading and unloading risks, piracy at sea, etc. This class of insurance further has two categories:
Specific or Particular Cargo Policy- To approach a truck insurer or agent to get insured for a particular consignment.
Contingency Cargo Policy- To insure against any future risks that may not be a part of the primary policy. It helps to filter out the circumstances where legal remedies for a certain loss are not present.
Risks of Unprotected Vehicle
If you leave your commercial truck unguarded and the unfortunate accident happens then the insurer is not bound to cover your losses in such cases. If the truck operator has some other or personal work and he may leave the truck in his house or at the mechanic unguarded, there is no policy to cover that vehicle under any kind of damage or loss. So, you should be aware of the risks associated with any unguarded commercial truck.
Any Curtailment
Whether you have purchased the most expensive or high-rated truck cargo insurance policy, there are still certain items or goods that can’t be covered in any case. Some of them are Jewelry, Alcohol, Tobacco, Explosives, Animals, and many more things.
The availability of truck cargo insurance is for non-hire risks associated with trucks with any of the body types like dump trucks, box trucks, cargo vans, cement mixtures, flatbeds, or car-haulers.
Still, there may be variations in these curtailments from company to company. So, you must consult agents or insurance providers carefully before opting for cargo insurance plans.
Know the Types of Coverages
As told above that the cargo coverages are available for land, air, or sea transportation. These all include the different categories of coverages like total-risk coverage, general average, or warehouse-to-warehouse coverage. Let’s have a look at these types of coverages:
Warehouse-to-Warehouse Cover: This sort of clause in the insurance policy covers the cargo from the origin to the arrival of the cargo at the destination warehouse. You need to have separate policy cover for before and after this process.
General Average: The term is basically linked with marine transits. This coverage has a liability of only half of the loss. The damage caused to the goods or cargo is shared by all the shippers or the cargo holding parties.
All-risk or Total-risk Cover: This coverage offers protection against any damage due to some outside factors. This doesn’t mean literally all sorts of risks, But only a particular set of risks are covered under this. The damage because of incorrect loading, cheating by the workers, contagion, etc.
Free From Particular Coverage: As the name is suggesting, this type of coverage has the responsibility to cover some particular risks like an earthquake, bad weather, fire hazard, the sinking of the ship, etc.
So, you have to be knowledgeable enough to know the kinds of coverages and select as per your business requirements.
Variety of Cargo Premiums
This is one of the basic things to have in mind to choose the appropriate cargo insurance. The cargo to be transported and the average load is the basic things to consider in a coverage plan. The cargo limit has an average range. Some states even require a certain amount before entering under the PUC authority. This limit obviously depends upon the goods and the load. Try to be careful while considering this point.
Wrapping Up
We hope this blog caters to your questions. We made our best effort to gather all the necessary things to consider while choosing motor truck cargo insurance. As the trucking business is expensive yet risky, So being careful to protect this is the one and only base to be successful in the business.
Be smart and consider all the guidelines before selecting the one that suits your business needs. If you still want more information to ask, then feel open to dropping your questions here….We will be more than happy to assist you! Trolling Motor Battery is what you need for your car.
Hope you have a great read!