As a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver, you know few things are more important when on the road than transporting your cargo safely. That’s why the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has outlined regulations for making sure your cargo is loaded and secured properly.
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Being a commercial truck driver means hauling loads of cargo, which can involve lots of responsibility. When you’re hauling anything from cars, personal possessions, or hazardous materials, it’s important to keep your cargo safe. The type of insurance you need may vary from each truck. Therefore, it’s important to know the potential risks and try to prevent them.
The articles below outlines the types of insurance you’ll need for your cargo. It will also talk about why each commercial trucking business needs proper insurance. As well as how to lower the rates on your insurance coverage. We’ll also cover topics on how to prevent mishaps like damage and theft to your clients’ goods, how to grow your trucking business, the little known risks of transporting goods in the industry, and what you can do as a commercial vehicle owner or fleet manager to keep your trucks in great working condition.
A Guide to Motor Truck Cargo Insurance
Commercial drivers face a number of risks on the road, including accidents, severe weather, and equipment breakdowns. Trucking insurance can help cover carriers and drivers from these losses, but it can be easy to overlook another common risk—lost or damaged cargo.
Because for-hire transporters don’t own the cargo they carry, standard trucking liability policies may not provide the coverage you need if anything happens to freight while it’s in transit. And since cargo can be extremely valuable, you could be responsible for expensive losses and damaged relationships with your clients.
All transporters should consider motor truck cargo insurance to cover their liability for the goods they carry. The FMCSA also requires vehicles to have cargo insurance for interstate commerce, and other federal and state laws may also apply.
What Does Cargo Insurance Cost?
Cargo insurance is required if you haul and deliver goods for a living. How it works is lost or damaged shipments will be compensated for but only up to your policy’s limit. As you can imagine, cargo insurance can get pretty expensive since many shipments are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more.
In fact, shippers are very strict when it comes to truckers having the required cargo limit. If you fail to meet the requirements you’ll be denied the load. As you can see, cargo insurance is no joke, and businesses are prioritizing the protection of their goods during transportation.
As you can expect, there’s no one size fits all when it comes to cargo insurance. Every business is unique and your coverage will be tailored to meet your specific needs. So, without further ado, here’s the cost of cargo insurance and factors that can affect your rates.
How to Prevent Cargo Theft
Truckers are responsible for hauling valuable cargo to their designated drop-off location. Therefore, they’re often targeted by groups of individuals who resell the goods to make a hefty profit. As a result, trucking businesses need to take major precautions to reduce the chances of their cargo being stolen.
This is an ongoing problem and we need better solutions to prevent this from happening. In this article, we’ll discuss ways trucking businesses can prevent cargo theft.
Tips for Properly Securing Your Cargo
Have you ever driven behind a truck carrying a large load? You may even find yourself nervously surveying the vehicle to see how secure the cargo is. The problem with unsecured cargo is it can fly off the back of the truck striking other vehicles behind them. According to the FMCSA, 4% of accidents are caused by improperly secured cargo.
How Much Cargo Insurance Do I Need?
Since trucks carry a wide variety of cargo throughout their journeys, it’s hard to figure out how much coverage they’ll need. If you’re a trucker, keep in mind that the amount and value of your cargo changes pretty frequently. That’s why it’s important to invest in a quality cargo insurance policy that fits your needs.
What to Do When a Receiver Rejects a Cargo Load
Oftentimes, when a receiver rejects a cargo load, it costs a significant amount of time, fuel, and transport products. From the viewpoint of sustainability, it may negate some prior fuel efficiency and cost savings.
Who is required to carry cargo insurance?
While all motor carriers must carry a limited amount of liability insurance, this is only the basic requirement and it offers no protection for the goods you carry. You need to carry cargo insurance to guard against financial loss from damage to your cargo while in transit or storage.