Who needs it
Anyone hauling other people's freight for hire. FMCSA requires cargo coverage for household goods movers; for general freight, the requirement usually comes from your broker or shipper contract.
What it pays for
- Freight damaged in a crash, fire, flood or rollover
- Freight stolen from your truck, within the policy's theft conditions
- Debris removal after a covered loss
- Spoiled freight from a reefer breakdown, if you add reefer breakdown coverage
What it won't pay for
- Theft from an unattended or unlocked truck, on many policies
- Excluded freight, often things like cash, jewelry, art, tobacco or live animals
- Spoilage when the reefer unit fails, unless you add reefer breakdown
- Loads worth more than your limit (anything over it is on you)
- Delay, or a load the customer rejects for no physical damage, usually
What moves the price
We don't show prices online. These are the things an agent and the insurance companies look at.
- What you haul and how easy it is to steal
- The limit you need (your most valuable load)
- Where you run and where you park
- Your claims history
- Deductible
- Reefer, theft and other add-ons
Real situations
- Your trailer catches fire on the shoulder and the load of furniture is ruined. Cargo pays the shipper for the furniture, up to your limit.
- Your locked truck is broken into at a secured lot and part of the load is stolen. Cargo pays, as long as you met the policy's theft conditions.