TL;DR: Cargo insurance covers freight in your care, and the questions repeat: how much is required, what theft conditions apply, who pays for spoilage, and how claims actually settle. Short answers below, with the longer explanations linked from each topic.
What does cargo insurance do in one minute?
Motor truck cargo insurance pays when freight in your care as a carrier is damaged, destroyed, or stolen and you are legally liable, which under the Carmack Amendment, 49 U.S.C. 14706, you usually are. FMCSA stopped requiring cargo filings for general freight in 2011; brokers and shippers require the coverage by contract instead, most commonly at $100,000. The questions below cover the rest of what carriers ask.
Where do cargo claims go wrong?
In the conditions: unattended-vehicle clauses, commodity sublimits, reefer maintenance requirements, and late notice. Every answer below that mentions a condition is worth checking against your own policy form today, not at claim time.
Real questions owner-operators and fleet managers ask
How much cargo insurance am I required to carry?
Federal law requires none for general freight; FMCSA eliminated cargo filings for non-household-goods carriers effective March 21, 2011. The requirement is contractual: standard broker-carrier agreements set $100,000, and specific shippers set their own numbers. Household goods carriers still make federal cargo filings.
Is $100,000 enough cargo coverage?
It matches the standard broker requirement, and for much dry freight it is adequate. If your loads routinely exceed it, electronics, pharmaceuticals, copper, meat, you need higher limits or per-load excess, because you owe the freight's owner the real value, not the policy limit.
What is the Carmack Amendment in plain terms?
It is the federal law, 49 U.S.C. 14706, making interstate carriers liable for loss or damage to freight they transport, with limited defenses like acts of God or shipper packaging fault. Your cargo policy exists because Carmack liability attaches to you, not to the broker.
Does cargo insurance cover theft from a truck stop?
Only on the policy's terms. Unattended-vehicle clauses commonly require locked units, secured or lit lots, sometimes specific devices, for theft coverage to respond. Theft-target commodities carry extra conditions and sublimits. Read the theft conditions and build your parking discipline around them.
What is a commodity sublimit?
A cap inside your policy that limits recovery for specific freight types, often theft targets like electronics, liquor, tires, and seafood, below the headline cargo limit. Hauling above the sublimit leaves the difference uninsured. Ask for the sublimit schedule before booking high-value freight.
Who pays when a receiver rejects a warm reefer load?
The claim runs against you as carrier, and your policy pays only if the cause fits: reefer breakdown coverage for mechanical failure, and only with maintenance records and correct set points documented. Driver error like a wrong set point is often excluded. Without the add-on, spoilage is usually yours.
Does my cargo policy cover loads I broker to another carrier?
No. Freight you broker rides on the hauling carrier's cargo policy. Contingent cargo coverage is the separate policy protecting your brokerage when that carrier's insurance fails or falls short. Dual-authority companies need both, mapped to which authority moved each load.
What should my driver do the moment freight is damaged?
Note the damage on the delivery receipt in specific terms, photograph everything before it moves, and call it in the same day. Never sign clean for a load you did not count or inspect. Late notice and clean receipts are how payable claims turn into denied ones.
How long does a shipper have to file a cargo claim against me?
Bills of lading must allow at least 9 months for filing written claims under the Carmack framework, and federal claim regulations govern acknowledgment and handling. Do not treat a quiet month after delivery as closure; document every load as if the claim arrives at month eight.
Does cargo insurance cover the trailer itself?
No. The trailer is equipment: yours under physical damage coverage, someone else's under trailer interchange or non-owned trailer coverage. Cargo insurance covers only the freight inside. One incident can trigger two or three coverages, each paying its own piece.
What is a shipper's interest or all-risk demand on a rate confirmation?
Some shippers require broader terms than a basic named-perils cargo form provides, or ask for shipper's interest coverage protecting the cargo owner directly. If a contract demands all-risk terms, confirm your form actually provides them; signing for coverage you do not carry creates uninsured contractual liability.
Does cargo coverage apply while freight sits in my yard overnight?
Only as your policy defines it. Forms differ on storage: some cover freight in transit including brief stops, others limit unattached-trailer or extended-storage scenarios, and drop yards may need warehouse or storage endorsements. If loaded trailers routinely sit, get storage terms in writing.
Will one cargo claim raise my premium?
One well-documented, subrogated claim rarely reprices an account by itself; patterns do. Frequency of small claims signals loose freight handling and moves pricing more than a single event. Absorb genuinely small losses where practical and keep the policy for real ones.
Do hotshot and cargo van operators need cargo insurance?
Yes, if they haul freight for hire; brokers require the same certificate lines regardless of vehicle size. Limits may be scaled to lighter loads, but the coverage and its conditions work identically. Vehicle weight changes your liability filing thresholds, not your cargo obligations.
What is a deductible on a cargo policy and who pays it?
You do, out of each claim: the policy pays the covered loss minus your deductible, commonly $1,000 to $2,500 per occurrence. Some broker contracts also let the broker deduct claim amounts from your settlements while the insurance claim processes, so read both documents together.
Does cargo insurance pay for load shift or securement damage?
Generally yes when freight is damaged by shifting in transit, subject to policy terms, but claims caused by improper loading you performed can be contested, and repeated securement losses invite exclusions. Flatbed operations should document securement per FMCSA rules on every load, since 49 CFR 393 violations undercut both safety scores and claims.
What happens to a cargo claim if I was not at fault?
Carmack liability under 49 U.S.C. 14706 attaches with limited defenses, act of God, public enemy, shipper's own fault, inherent vice, or public authority, so not-at-fault matters less than in auto claims. Your insurer investigates the defenses; your documentation at pickup and delivery is what makes them usable.
Why truckers work with Morrow
- We know the filings. Morrow builds cargo coverage around the freight you actually haul, with limits, sublimits, and reefer terms matched to your lanes.
- New authority is our normal. First-year carriers pay the most and get declined the most. We work with markets that actually want new ventures and we tell you what the first renewal takes.
- Certificates and filings, fast. Certificates of insurance the same business day for most carriers, and federal or state filings submitted electronically so your authority is not sitting in a queue.
- We quote the whole picture. Liability, cargo, physical damage, and the endorsements shippers and brokers actually check for, priced together so nothing is missing when a load is on the line.
- Real people when something goes wrong. A claim, a lapse notice, or a lost certificate gets a person, not a portal.
Related trucking guides
Short answers to the surrounding questions truckers ask next.
- Trucking insurance at Morrow (start here)
- Motor truck cargo insurance
- Reefer breakdown coverage
- Trailer interchange coverage
- Commodity hauled and how it prices
- Certificates of insurance for truckers
- Trucking and transportation insurance overview
This guide is general information, not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Limits, forms, and deadlines change, so verify current requirements with FMCSA and your state insurance department before you rely on them. Morrow is a brand name of Afthonea Inc. Last updated: July 2026.