Cargo insurance
Coverwatch places cargo and transit insurance for carriers, shippers, and ecommerce brands moving physical goods. We structure it to match your largest load and your toughest contract, and to respond when a load is stolen or spoiled, not just clear a broker's checklist.
- Motor truck cargo for haulers and shippers alike
- $100K minimum the form most brokers demand
- 60+ carriers shopped for your freight
At a glance
- What it covers
- Loss, theft, or damage to the freight or goods while they are moving or in temporary storage between stops.
- What it doesn't
- The truck or trailer itself, and your stock sitting at your fixed warehouse.
Trusted by 60+ carrier partners
What does cargo insurance cover?
Cargo insurance covers goods that are damaged, lost, or stolen while in transit or temporary storage. Motor truck cargo covers the freight a carrier hauls for others; transit or shippers-interest coverage protects a business shipping its own inventory. It pays for the goods, not the truck, and not stock sitting at your warehouse.
How we get you covered
We take cargo insurance to 60+ markets, build it to fit your business, and keep it compliant.
Read your risk
We map what could actually go wrong in your operation, where a claim would come from, and who would bring it.
Shop 60+ markets
We take your risk to the carriers that know your class and make them compete on price and terms.
Build the endorsements
We add the endorsement wording that decides whether the policy responds to a claim, beyond the base form.
Keep you compliant
We handle the COIs, additional-insured certs, and renewals, so you are never the one chasing paperwork.
Who needs cargo & transit
Any carrier that hauls freight for others, and any business that ships its own goods. What changes is whether you need motor truck cargo or shippers-interest coverage, and the theft and reefer terms that follow your freight.
Trucking
For-hire carriers and owner-operators hauling freight for others. Motor truck cargo answers Carmack liability and is the certificate a broker checks before tendering a load.
Semi-truck
Long-haul tractor-trailers carry the highest single-load values, so the per-conveyance limit and theft terms matter most here.
Box truck
Local and regional delivery operations where loading and handling damage and unattended-vehicle theft drive most claims.
Dump truck
Aggregate and material haulers carry lower-value but heavy loads, where overturn and spillage are the main cargo exposures.
Ecommerce
Brands shipping their own inventory and inbound goods. Shippers-interest transit coverage pays the value of the product directly when a carrier they do not control loses or damages a shipment.
What's covered, and what isn't
In the policy
Motor truck cargo for for-hire haulers
The freight you carry for others while it is in your care, custody, and control. This is the inland marine policy a broker checks before tendering a load, and it answers your liability for the goods under the Carmack Amendment.
Shippers-interest and transit coverage
Protects a business shipping its own inventory, by truck, rail, or parcel, when it does not control the carrier. It pays the value of the goods directly rather than relying on the carrier's limited released-value liability of often fifty cents per pound.
Theft of the freight
A full trailer stolen from a yard, a load taken in a fictitious or double-broker pickup, or goods pilfered in transit. Theft is the single largest cargo loss driver, and the policy responds where the goods themselves are taken.
Collision, overturn, and accident damage
Freight crushed, scattered, or written off when the truck collides, jackknifes, or overturns. The cargo policy pays for the goods on the trailer; the damage to the truck itself sits on a separate commercial auto policy.
Loading and handling damage in transit
Goods dropped, crushed, or water-damaged during loading, unloading, or transfer between conveyances. Many policies sublimit or condition loading coverage, so the terms decide whether a forklift mishap is paid or denied.
Debris removal and earned freight
After a covered loss, the cost to clean up and dispose of damaged cargo, plus the freight charges you had already earned on the load. Both are commonly built in at a sublimit so a wreck does not leave you absorbing the cleanup.
Not in the policy
The truck or trailer itself
Physical damage to the tractor, trailer, or reefer unit is not cargo. That loss belongs on the vehicle's own physical-damage coverage, not the policy that insures the freight.
Covered by Commercial Auto
Stock sitting at your fixed warehouse
Inventory at rest in your own building is not in transit. Once goods reach your warehouse and stop moving, they fall under a different policy that insures property at a fixed location.
Covered by Commercial Property
A bodily-injury claim from an accident
If the wreck that destroys the freight also injures another driver, that injury claim is liability, not cargo. The cargo policy pays for the goods only.
Covered by General Liability
Reefer or refrigeration breakdown
A reefer unit failing and spoiling a perishable load is excluded on most base forms. The coverage has to be bought back, and it usually excludes operator error like a wrong temperature setting.
Covered by a refrigeration breakdown endorsement
Theft from an unattended, unlocked vehicle
Many policies deny a theft claim when the loaded truck was left unsecured. Securing the load and meeting the security conditions is what keeps the coverage in force.
Covered by excluded without a security endorsement
Claims cargo & transit pays
Full-trailer cargo theft
A loaded trailer is stolen from a yard or taken in a fictitious pickup. With the 2024 average cargo theft event at roughly $202,000, a single stolen load can exhaust a low limit by itself.
$100K–$500K+
Reefer breakdown spoils a load
A refrigeration unit fails on a perishable shipment and the entire load is condemned. Without a reefer breakdown endorsement the spoilage is excluded, and high-risk commodities like seafood may carry a sublimit even with it.
$25K–$200K
Collision destroys the freight
A jackknife or overturn crushes or scatters the load. The cargo policy pays for the goods on the trailer while the truck's own damage falls to commercial auto.
$50K–$300K
Water and handling damage in transit
Goods are soaked by a roof leak or crushed during a forklift transfer. Whether the claim pays often turns on the loading and handling terms and any sublimit on the form.
$10K–$100K
Ranges are typical loss bands for these claim types, not a quote. Actual exposure depends on commodity, load value, route, and limits.
How much coverage you need
There is no standard limit. Two things decide what you actually need, and you carry whichever is higher.
- The value of your typical and maximum load
- Size the per-conveyance limit to the most valuable load you ever put on one truck, not the average. A carrier hauling electronics or pharmaceuticals needs far more on a single trailer than one moving building materials at the same revenue.
- What your brokers and shippers require
- Freight brokers, shippers, and 3PLs will not tender a load until your certificate shows their minimum, commonly $100,000 and often $250,000 for high-value freight. That contract floor frequently sets the number before your own loss math does.
- Freight broker
- $100K + reefer
- Shipper transportation agreement
- $250K / load
- 3PL / warehouse contract
- $100K+ in transit
A typical broker-carrier agreement requires at least $100,000 in motor truck cargo, and reefer breakdown coverage in force before it will tender a refrigerated load.
A direct shipper of higher-value goods commonly demands $250,000 per load on an all-risk form, naming the shipper on the certificate before the first pickup.
A third-party logistics or warehouse agreement requires cargo limits that match the value handled, plus coverage during temporary storage at a cross-dock between legs.
- Per-occurrence (per-load) limit
- $100,000
- Per-conveyance limit
- Set to max load
- Reefer breakdown sublimit
- Often capped
- Deductible
- $1,000–$5,000
The most the policy pays for any single loss, which in practice is your worst single load. This is the figure most freight brokers and shippers set as their minimum before they tender freight.
A cap on what is paid for the goods on any one truck or trailer at one time. Carry enough to cover your most valuable load on a single vehicle, not your average.
A separate, usually lower ceiling that applies only to refrigeration-breakdown spoilage, and only when the endorsement is on the form. High-risk commodities are often sublimited or excluded inside it.
What you pay out of pocket on each claim before the policy responds. A higher deductible lowers premium but means small in-transit damage is yours to absorb.
Endorsements that close the gaps
The base form is the start. These add-ons are where the policy gets built to fit your business.
Refrigeration breakdown
Buys back coverage for perishable loads spoiled by a reefer unit failure, which the base form excludes. Read the operator-error and downtime conditions, since a wrong temperature setting is often still excluded.
All-risk upgrade
Moves the policy from named perils, where you must prove the cause was listed, to all-risk, where loss is covered unless specifically excluded. The burden shifts to the insurer, which closes disputes over how a load was damaged.
Broadened theft and security
Removes or softens the unattended-vehicle exclusion and adds protection for fictitious or double-broker pickups, the fastest-rising theft channel. It usually carries security conditions the carrier has to meet to keep coverage in force.
Debris removal and earned freight
Raises or adds the sublimit for cleaning up damaged cargo after a loss and for the freight charges already earned on the wrecked load, so a single accident does not leave those costs uninsured.
Questions buyers actually ask
Cargo insurance covers the freight or goods on the truck. Commercial auto covers the truck itself, plus the liability for injuring other people in an accident. They are two separate policies that pay for two separate things. If a jackknife destroys a loaded trailer, the cargo policy pays for the goods that were ruined, and the commercial auto policy pays to repair or replace the tractor and trailer. A broker tendering you a load checks both certificates, because the auto policy alone does nothing for the value of the freight you were hired to deliver.
Motor truck cargo is bought by a for-hire carrier and covers the freight it hauls for others while in its care, custody, and control. It answers the carrier's liability under the Carmack Amendment. Shippers-interest, or transit, coverage is bought by a business shipping its own goods, when it does not control the carrier. It pays the value of the inventory directly, rather than fighting the carrier whose released-value liability may cap recovery at fifty cents per pound. A trucker needs the first. An ecommerce brand or manufacturer moving its own product needs the second.
Not on the base form. A standard motor truck cargo policy excludes spoilage caused by a refrigeration unit breaking down, so reefer carriers have to add a refrigeration breakdown endorsement. Even then the coverage has conditions. Many forms exclude operator error, such as setting the wrong temperature, leaving doors open, or running out of reefer fuel. Some require the unit to have failed for a minimum number of hours before coverage triggers. High-risk commodities like seafood are often sublimited or excluded inside the endorsement. Read the conditions before you haul perishables, because a spoiled load is a total loss.
The Carmack Amendment, found at 49 U.S.C. 14706, makes a motor carrier strictly liable for loss of or damage to goods it transports across state lines. Strict liability means the shipper does not have to prove the carrier was negligent. The carrier is responsible unless it can prove the loss came from one of a few narrow causes: an act of God, an act of war, an act of a public authority, an act or default of the shipper, or the inherent nature of the goods. A claim must be filed with the carrier within at least nine months of delivery, and any lawsuit within two years of a claim denial. Motor truck cargo insurance is what funds that liability, which is why brokers will not tender freight without it.
Most freight brokers and shippers require at least $100,000 in motor truck cargo before they will tender a load, and many high-value contracts specify $100,000 to $250,000 per vehicle. The right number is the higher of two things: your contract floor and the value of your most expensive single load. A carrier hauling electronics or pharmaceuticals on one trailer needs far more than one moving building materials at the same revenue. Size the per-conveyance limit to your maximum load, not your average, because a single full-trailer theft now averages around $202,000.
It depends on the policy and the wording. Many motor truck cargo forms exclude theft when the loaded truck or trailer is left unattended and unlocked, so a load stolen from an unsecured vehicle can be denied. A broadened theft or security endorsement softens that exclusion, but usually attaches conditions the carrier must meet, such as parking in secured lots or using locks and tracking. Theft is the largest cargo loss driver, and fictitious pickups have surged, so the theft and security terms are the part of the policy to read most carefully before you book a high-value load.
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