Motor truck cargo insurance

What cargo insurance does

Motor truck cargo insurance pays for loss of or damage to the freight in your care, on the terms of the policy. It fills a gap on purpose: the federal MCS-90 endorsement on your liability policy says it does not apply to “property transported by the insured, designated as cargo.” Liability insurance protects other people; cargo insurance protects the load.

Is cargo insurance required?

Federally, only for movers. FMCSA’s insurance chart lists no cargo requirement for for-hire carriers of general freight. For-hire household goods carriers must carry $5,000, filed on Form BMC-34 or BMC-83.

Some states require it for intrastate work. From our state guides:

Oregon

$10,000 filed on Form H for intrastate for-hire carriers; ODOT waives it for loads not subject to material damage — for example logs, sand and gravel, lumber and water.

Pennsylvania

At least $5,000 for PUC-certificated common carriers — not required for dump trucks, construction materials or loads worth $500 or less, once an affidavit is filed with the PUC.

South Carolina

Required for an E-LC Certificate of Compliance (SCDMV lists $5,000 per vehicle); not for the E-L class that hauls dump-truck commodities.

Movers inside one state

California $20,000; North Carolina $35,000 per vehicle and $50,000 per occurrence; Washington $10,000 or $20,000 depending on truck weight; Texas $5,000 for one shipper’s goods and $10,000 in total for several shippers’ goods on one truck.

Why you can owe for damaged freight anyway

Under the Carmack Amendment (49 U.S.C. 14706), a carrier hauling interstate freight must issue a receipt or bill of lading and is liable to the person entitled to recover for “the actual loss or injury to the property” — and failing to issue the receipt does not change that. A carrier and shipper can limit that liability to a value the shipper declares or they agree in writing, if the value is reasonable under the circumstances.

In practice the bill of lading and your broker or shipper contract decide how much you could owe for a load. Cargo insurance is there so that an insurer pays that bill, not you.

What to check before you buy

• The limit. Compare it with the most valuable load you actually haul and with every contract’s cargo requirement.
• Commodities. Make sure every commodity you haul is covered and not excluded — ask about each one.
• Refrigeration breakdown. If you pull a reefer, ask whether spoilage from a unit breakdown is covered and on what conditions.
• Theft conditions. Read what the policy requires when the truck is parked or unattended.
• Deductible. A higher deductible lowers the premium, but you pay it on every claim.

Getting a cargo quote

Have ready: what you haul and its typical and highest value per load, whether loads are refrigerated, the states you run, the cargo limits your contracts require, and your loss runs. If you also need the liability and physical damage policies, quoting them together lets the agent send one file to every market — see the truck insurance guides.