During July, we conducted an expert interview with Ed Chadwick of E.C. Transportation Services to get some answers related to cargo insurance. Motor truck cargo insurance is insurance against the loss from legal liability for damage to goods or merchandize in the insured’s care and custody in the ordinary course of transit; this type of insurance may, depending on your policy, include coverage for debris removal, earned freight, and refrigeration breakdown. Today, we review the top takeaways from that interview:

There are 3 choices when purchasing a cargo insurance policy:

• “Base” – protects against the most common dangers.
• “Broad Form” – protects against additional, specific risks that are named in the policy.
• “Special Form” – protects against any risk that the policy does not state is covered.

The best choice for refrigerated carriers:

• The “Broad Form” coverage is the best as this includes refrigerated perils coverage. It provides carriers more coverage over the refrigerated product that is in their care, and has less exclusions that may cause a claim. All carriers of refrigerated produce should have this type of coverage, and it is the most common plan that is used today.

The key inclusions to have in a cargo insurance policy for a carrier of refrigerated produce:

• Refrigerated breakdown
• Refrigerated malfunction

Most common exclusions to stay away from in a policy:

• This is a difficult point to generalize, although many carriers have been denied coverage for a claim due to the condition of record keeping of reefer unit maintenance. The most important takeaway here is that conditions and exclusions on ALL policies must be reviewed by the carrier and their insurer so that they can be sure they fully understand what the policy covers and doesn’t cover. This is the only way to know if you have what you need to be fully protected.

Be sure you are fully protected, contact your insurance provider and review your policy today!