Rail or Truck, Inland Marine Cargo Insurance Has You Covered

February 2, 2023
 By Jacob Lee
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Rail or Truck, Inland Marine Cargo Insurance Has You Covered
Last Modified: April 18, 2024
Ground freight shipments can be damaged throughout their journey to the receiver. Fortunately, inland marine insurance will offer supreme protection to these shipments.

Inland marine cargo insurance protects valuable shipments of freight for shippers every day. That said, inland marine cargo insurance is somewhat complex and is sometimes confused with other types of marine insurance. 

According to the institution Freightwaves, cargo damage is a serious threat in the transportation industry. To prevent financial ruin, inland marine cargo insurance is used to protect all ground shipments. That means shippers will be reimbursed if their freight is damaged during loading/unloading, or when being transported.

We’ll show you how inland marine cargo insurance works and how it will keep your freight protected.

A semi truck driving down a highway

What Is Marine Inland Cargo Insurance?

As suggested by its name, inland marine cargo insurance protects freight shipments in the following inland situations:

  • When transported by truck
  • When transported by rail
  • When stored in a 3PL warehouse

If freight is being transported or stored on land, then marine cargo insurance is the form of protection that shippers need. Most senders of freight use inland marine insurance when sending goods to their customers. That said, any business with a property that is movable can use marine cargo insurance to send goods to either a customer or to another location owned by the business. 

How Are Inland Marine and Regular Marine Insurance Different?

Shippers often confuse inland marine insurance with regular or ocean marine insurance. While their names are very similar to one another, the difference that sets them apart is the mode of transportation that they’re used for. Inland marine covers land transport and storage while ocean marine covers goods that travel overseas. 

Ocean marine insurance is much older than its inland counterpart and it can be used to insure the following. 

  • The vessel transporting the goods
  • The owner of various liabilities
  • The cargo aboard the ship

With the creation of roads and rail lines, inland marine insurance was created to protect freight traveling on land. Unlike ocean marine insurance, which can be used by shippers and vessel owners, inland marine insurance is designed specifically for shippers and their freight. 

This is useful for companies working with project cargo that may need insurance that covers multiple types of routes and transport modes.

Another insurance policy you might find useful when shipping your products is all risk cargo insurance

Numerous stacked cargo containers at a port

What Is and Isn’t Covered by Inland Marine?

Before purchasing inland marine coverage, shippers of freight need to understand what types of property and damage that the policy protects their goods from. Fortunately, inland marine insurance provides a wide range of protection that shippers can enjoy.  

What Does Inland Marine Insurance Cover?

Many forms of freight travel by truck and rail or are stored inside a warehouse. That means shippers need a form of insurance that’s broad enough to cover any type of property they need to send.

Inland marine cargo insurance does just that by protecting many types of goods, such as: 

  • Medical equipment
  • Trade show exhibits
  • Solar panels
  • Wind turbines
  • Construction equipment
  • Electronics 
  • Exhibitions and fine art coverage

Inland marine cargo insurance can also reimburse shippers for a variety of different causes of damage.  

Inland marine insurance can also reimburse shippers for damages and loss caused by:

  • Cargo Theft
  • Shipping accidents
  • Fire
  • Weather damage (excluding flooding)

One other scenario that inland marine cargo insurance will extend property coverage to is goods that are kept in the temporary care of a shipper. This is useful for businesses in the art industry that display artwork at exhibitions

Unfortunately, many dangers pose a constant threat to freight in the transportation industry. While it’s likely that most shipments will be able to avoid these disasters, it’s best for business owners to insure their goods in case something does go wrong. 

What Does Inland Marine Insurance Not Cover?

Inland marine cargo insurance may protect various kinds of goods from different kinds of goods from all kinds of dangers. However, there are certain scenarios this policy won’t protect freight from. 

Knowing what these scenarios are will prevent surprise and frustration in case one of these scenarios occur. There are only five instances where inland marine insurance won’t protect freight.

These five instances include:

  1. Stationary property
  2. Damage from earthquakes and floods
  3. Damage that occurs before the freight is shipped
  4. Vehicles
  5. Goods transported by sea or air

Luckily for shippers, most of these scenarios are easy to avoid.  

A container being loaded onto a rail

Why Should I Insure My Truck/Rail Shipments?

Many shippers assume that nothing will ever go wrong with their shipment. That said, there are many ways freight could sustain damage when transported by rail or truck. Rather than use insurance, some shippers rather take various precautions to make sure damage doesn’t occur. 

Shippers try to prepare for these dangers by:

  • Insulating their packages with styrofoam or other materials
  • Using new packing materials with every shipment
  • Sealing the goods to protect them from various weather events  
  • Labeling their packages as fragile
  • Securing their palletized freight correctly

Taking these precautions will increase the survivability of freight in transit. Nonetheless, extreme weather events, collisions on the road and other phenomena can prove too severe for freight to survive. Using inland marine cargo insurance is the ultimate level of protection and it will work when all else fails. 

Look into our article on the benefits of cargo insurance to have a better understanding of how insuring your freight will help you. 

Forklifts moving pallets in a warehouse

How Much Does Inland Marine Insurance Cost?

Like most other forms of insurance, the cost of inland marine insurance can vary based on the policy chosen by the shipper. More expensive items will need more coverage, thus raising the cost of the insurance. Most inland marine insurance premiums are paid on a monthly basis. 

Some insurance policies might sound expensive, but they can be quite cheap when broken down to their monthly premium. 

Insurance Policies and Their Monthly Premiums

Insurance PolicyMonthly Premium
$1000$83.33
$2000$166.66
$3000$250.00
$4000$333.33
$5000$416.66

Monthly premiums are calculated by simply dividing the policy by the amount of months in a year. The numbers chosen are used as examples since insurance policies can vary based on the provider. 

Although policies can vary, most shippers can expect to pay an average of $2500 annually for inland marine insurance. The monthly premium for this policy will be $208.33. Shippers can also try to negotiate their policy with their insurance provider. 

Our article on how to calculate cargo insurance will give you a better idea of how much you can expect an insurance policy will cost. 

Freight Insurance Coverage Will Protect Your Goods

At Freight Insurance Coverage, we’ll extend coverage to every shipment that you book with us. Our quotes automatically factor insurance into the overall cost to ship. Therefore, you’ll know exactly how much money you’ll be spending on a load. 

If you’re ready to transport your goods with the coverage that it deserves, then fill out one of our quotes. You can also contact our team at (866) 975-0749 for answers to any questions you have.

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