Your freight is your customer’s product. The right cargo program protects both.
Motor truck cargo insurance covers loss or damage to freight while it’s in your care, custody, and control. The exposure is specific to what you haul, where you haul it, and the conditions of the load. Generic cargo policies are full of commodity-specific exclusions, sublimits, and conditions that don’t surface until a claim is denied.
Most cargo programs aren’t underpriced. They’re under-built. Reefer breakdown sublimits that don’t reflect modern temperature-sensitive freight values, securement exclusions that fail when a load shifts, missing earned freight coverage, no contingent cargo for brokers and 3PLs — these are the gaps that don’t surface until a claim is already denied.
At Avanti Group, we run a Business Risk Diagnostic™ before we build any cargo submission. We look at your commodities, your customer requirements, your equipment, and your loss history — and structure cargo coverage that actually responds to what you haul.
Who We Work With
We place cargo programs for transportation operators across Iowa and the Midwest, including:
- Long-haul and over-the-road carriers
- Refrigerated and reefer haulers
- Flatbed, dry van, and specialized carriers
- Tanker and bulk commodity haulers
- Heavy haul and oversize specialists
- Auto haulers and high-value cargo carriers
- Freight brokers and 3PLs requiring contingent cargo
- Private carriers hauling their own goods
The Coverage Lines That Matter Most
A complete cargo program is more than a single limit. The components we evaluate and place include:
- Motor Truck Cargo — coverage for freight in your care, custody, and control while in transit
- Refrigeration Breakdown — loss from reefer unit failure, often sublimited or subject to specific maintenance conditions
- Earned Freight — recovery of freight charges already earned but not collected after a covered loss
- Debris Removal & Pollution Cleanup — cleanup costs after a cargo spill or accident
- Contingent Cargo — for brokers and 3PLs, covering claims when a contracted carrier’s policy doesn’t respond
- Trailer Interchange — coverage for non-owned trailers in your care under interchange agreements
- Owners Goods on Owners Trucks — for private carriers hauling their own commodities
- High-Value & Targeted Commodity Coverage — specific limits and security requirements for electronics, pharmaceuticals, and high-theft commodities
The Risks Most Cargo Programs Miss
Commodity-specific exclusions are the most common claim disputes. Cargo policies routinely exclude or sublimit specific commodities — tobacco, electronics, pharmaceuticals, alcohol, livestock, art — and the carrier may not realize the exclusion applies until a load goes missing. We review the commodity schedule against actual hauling.
Reefer breakdown coverage has strict conditions. Most reefer breakdown coverage requires documented pre-trip inspections, specific temperature monitoring, and prompt reporting of any unit failures. A claim can be denied for failure to meet conditions the operator didn’t know about.
Securement and load-shift exclusions are routinely missed. Many cargo policies exclude losses arising from improper securement — even when the underlying cause is a third party’s fault. The language varies by carrier and is rarely scrutinized at placement.
Contingent cargo for brokers is frequently inadequate. Brokers and 3PLs often carry contingent cargo at minimum limits that don’t match the value of the loads they move. When a contracted carrier’s policy fails to respond, the contingent limit is what stands between the broker and the customer’s claim.
How to Get Started
Cargo insurance isn’t a commodity product. The right program depends on what you haul, your customer requirements, your equipment, and your operations. We need to understand your business before we can build the right program for it.
Call our office or use the button below to start a conversation. We’ll review your current program, your customer requirements, and your loss history — and let you know exactly where you stand before we ever go to market.