Can I haul cargo that my insurance doesn't cover?

Curious to know if I'm legally allowed to haul cargo that my insurance doesn't cover? If I get a DOT audit and they see that the commodity that I hauled is not listed on my insurance, will that be an issue? Usually in this kind of commodity, the customer already has insurance in place. So there is no risk involved for customer and me.

 

You sure about that?

Your Customers might wash hands of you and you end up paying the whole thing. Because your driver etc made a mistake that was preventable or some such.

If you are intending to haul something and it's going to be profitable for you, get your own insurance for it.

 

As long as it isnt hazmat or household moving you're fine..

And the value of your insurance is more than the load you're fine, if it's less and your customer loads it anyway, you would be on the hook for the excess in event of a crash...

Just update the mcs-150 As you're supposed to every 2 years, or more often, dot will be happy. As far as your insurance company goes keep them updated if cargo limits need to increase, or what you're hauling, but for the most part they just want a yearly update at renewal as to commodities and estimated values as % of your business. If you changed from say dry van to flatbed they'd need to know prior to you just going and doing it unless you're already doing both.

 

I have cargo and liability. I'm not worried for the claim. I am more worried about legally hauling the load without the insurance covering me.

 

Thing is, my insurance will not cover this commodity at all.

 

I would ask my insurance agent and present them with the customers insurance and see if they say ok or not ok... then again my insurance agent is super cool, I have theoretical questions now and then ...

 

I just to ask, what is this commodity, you don't have to tell us but we'd all like to know.

 

I am also interested. It's not often a "Trucking Company" Be it a Owner operator or 10,000 trucks say "We don't stress about the value of this commodity" so if there is a wreck that commodity will be paid for in cash out of the pocket of the company. For the loads out of McKesson, it would be valued in excess of a million dollars for example.

I don't know of too many people able to write a check for a million plus cash and walk away from it at a moment's notice.

 

It's nothing crazy, honey bees. I know trucking companies haul them to fruit and nut farms to pollinate crop. But our agent and the insurance underwriters will not cover them in our policy. I think it's because 5-10% of them die, and the customer could file a claim against the death of the bees; not too sure on that.

 

Think of all the worker's compensation claims.