Although all trucking businesses should invest in thorough insurance coverage to protect their drivers, vehicles, and cargo, not every company hauls common goods. For those in niche industries, securing insurance that does not exclude your cargo can be a challenge.
You may not even realize that a basic commercial auto insurance policy does not cover what you thought it did. That’s why trucking insurance should be custom-packaged to suit your business.
Trucking business owners and operators transporting unique, high-value, or hazardous cargo need specialized insurance options to protect their cargo, drivers, and business. Here is an overview of the types of policies you should consider, and how to evaluate the unique needs of your area of the trucking industry.
What Is Covered Under Trucking Insurance?
Trucking insurance is a broad term that encompasses many types of protection. It typically includes policies such as commercial auto, cargo insurance, and bodily injury coverage. However, these policies do not cover many types of cargo transported in niche industries, such as reefer trucking and hazmat hauling.
In these situations, specialized coverage is necessary to fill the gaps left by exclusions in primary policies. An insurance agency with experience in trucking can help you identify supplementary policies or add riders to existing coverage to address the risks not included in more standardized insurance.
Types of Special Cargo
The most significant gap in coverage for most trucking companies comes from the type of cargo they haul. Three primary types of “specialized” cargo regularly fall outside the scope of a standard cargo insurance policy:
High-Value Goods
Truckers that haul high-value goods are often responsible for transporting items whose monetary replacement value is either high or irreplaceable. Luxury items, art, certain electronics, pharmaceuticals, batteries, military equipment, and even aircraft can all be considered high-value.
Hazardous Materials
Truckers need to acquire special permission and labeling to haul hazardous materials. The most common hazmat cargo contents are gasoline and diesel fuel, fireworks, argon, petroleum gas, and lithium (as in batteries). However, the industry handles dozens of potentially dangerous items.
Perishable Items
Perishable cargo includes anything that is time or temperature-sensitive. Reefer trucks hauling refrigerated cargo fit in here, as do some pharmaceutical haulers and trucks carrying humidity-controlled artwork.
Essential Trucking Insurance Coverage To Consider For Your Business
Given the niche uses for these types of cargo, it is typical for insurance agencies—and especially those not specialized in trucking—to forego coverage of these rarer materials in their policies. This often requires trucking companies to pursue additional custom insurance or riders to avoid gaps that could cost them significant money if something goes wrong.
Cargo insurance
Broad-spectrum cargo insurance can address many types of harm to a wide range of cargo, but always read the fine print to see if your loads are included. Often, adding the type of cargo you haul can be as simple as purchasing a rider to overcome an exemption.
However, be aware that doing so comes with an additional cost. This price tag should be significantly less than the potential expenditures associated with replacing lost cargo. Carefully consider those items that cannot be replaced.
Hazmat insurance
If your trucking company hauls hazardous materials, it will need specialized hazmat trucking insurance. This is usually non-negotiable as part of local, state, or federal regulations.
Hazmat insurance often comes with higher minimums to make sure a covered event is fully addressed, including remediation of the affected area if a hazardous spill threatens people or the environment.
Reefer insurance
If your company operates a refrigerated truck, reefer insurance is also a must-have. This type of protection can cover the costs associated with malfunctions in the refrigeration components of the vehicle that keep cargo in safely temperature-controlled environments.
However, be aware that for reefer insurance to apply, you must follow closely managed rules—including strict maintenance schedules and the operation of vehicles within a specific age range. Always double-check these details when deciding on your reefer insurance policy to confirm your truck’s fit.
Protect Your Special Cargo With Trucking Insurance From Burton & Company
Determining which types of trucking insurance are most important for your business can be a challenge—and adding appropriate coverage for niche, high-value, or hazardous material cargo is often an additional responsibility.
The experts at Burton & Company offer customized trucking insurance solutions that address your most significant risks without destroying your careful budgeting. Our expertise in high-value and hazardous cargo gives us the edge to identify areas where you could be lacking appropriate coverage.
For a personalized consultation that factors in the type of trucking you do, the cargo you haul, and more, contact Burton & Company today.
