Motor truck cargo insurance covers the freight you're hauling if it's damaged, destroyed, or stolen while in your care. It is not the same as your auto liability (which the FMCSA requires and which covers what your truck does to others) or your physical damage coverage (which fixes your truck). For a single-truck owner-operator on standard dry freight, cargo commonly runs roughly $400 to $1,500 a year for a $100,000 limit — but the commodity you haul moves that number more than anything else. Nearly every broker requires proof of cargo coverage before they'll give you a load, so in practice you can't run without it.
Motor truck cargo insurance pays for the goods you're transporting when something happens to them while they're in your care, custody, and control. The classic triggers:
It's the coverage that stands between a bad day and a bill you pay personally. If you're hauling a $90,000 load of electronics and it's destroyed in a wreck, cargo insurance pays for the goods; without it, the shipper's claim lands on you.
Truckers routinely confuse three separate policies. They cover three different things, and most operations need all three:
| Coverage | What it protects | Required by |
|---|---|---|
| Auto liability | Injury & damage your truck causes to others | FMCSA (typically $750K–$1M+) |
| Motor truck cargo | The freight you're hauling | Brokers & shippers (typically $100K+) |
| Physical damage | Your own truck & trailer | Lender / lease (if financed) |
A single rollover can trigger all three at once: liability for the other driver's injuries, cargo for the destroyed freight, and physical damage for your wrecked tractor. For the liability side and why those limits jumped, see our explainer on FMCSA minimum liability changes.
Cargo premium is driven mostly by what you haul, then by your limit, lanes, and loss history. Rough illustrative ranges for a single-truck operation at a $100,000 limit:
| Commodity type | Relative cost | Typical annual range* |
|---|---|---|
| Building materials, lumber, general dry freight | Lowest | ~$400–$900 |
| Mixed / palletized consumer goods | Moderate | ~$700–$1,300 |
| Refrigerated (produce, meat, dairy) | Higher | ~$1,200–$2,500+ |
| High-theft (electronics, alcohol, metals, pharma) | Highest | Often surplus-lines / specially quoted |
*Illustrative only — not filed rates. Actual premium depends on commodity, limit, deductible, radius, lanes, equipment, and driving/loss history.
Two things push cost up fast: refrigerated freight (spoilage risk plus the reefer endorsement) and high-theft commodities in theft-prone lanes. Fleets pay per unit but usually earn better per-truck rates than a single owner-operator. Cargo is very often bundled into a full trucking package with liability and physical damage, which is usually the cleaner way to buy it.
This is where truckers get hurt. A cargo policy is not "everything in the trailer, no matter what." The common exclusions:
If you run refrigerated freight, pay attention here. Standard cargo policies often exclude spoilage from reefer breakdown — meaning if your refrigeration unit mechanically fails and a load of produce or frozen goods spoils, the base policy won't pay. Refrigeration breakdown coverage is the endorsement that fixes this, and it's essential for anyone hauling temperature-sensitive freight.
It comes with conditions: the reefer unit must be properly maintained, and many policies require a working temperature-recording device so a claim can be verified. Run reefer freight without this endorsement and a spoilage claim will almost certainly be denied — a single failed load can be a total loss worth tens of thousands.
Freight theft has been climbing, concentrated in certain commodities and lanes, and carriers underwrite it closely. Cargo insurance does cover theft — but only if you follow the policy's security requirements: locked and attended, or parked in a secured yard for high-value loads. Ignore those conditions and a theft claim can be denied even though theft is nominally a covered peril. Treat the security clause as part of the coverage, not fine print.
Don't just carry the broker minimum. Brokers commonly require $100,000, but the correct limit is the full value of the most valuable load you actually haul. If you regularly move $150,000 loads on a $100,000 policy, you're personally on the hook for the $50,000 gap after a total loss. Match the limit to your real maximum load value, and schedule higher-value commodities specifically if your base policy caps them. This is exactly the kind of sizing an agent who knows your freight and lanes gets right — and a quote mill defaulting to the minimum gets wrong.
Bettr Coverage is an independent commercial insurance agency serving Georgia and the wider Southeast. Trucking is a program, not a single policy — auto liability, motor truck cargo, physical damage, and often reefer breakdown and hired-and-non-owned all have to line up, with limits sized to your actual freight and endorsements that match what your brokers require. We write the whole trucking program, shop it across multiple carriers rather than defending one company's rate, and read your load profile so your cargo limit and commodity schedule actually fit what's in your trailer. One agency, one relationship, the whole trucking stack checked for gaps together — before a claim finds them.
Bettr Coverage reviews your trucking program — auto liability, cargo, reefer breakdown, physical damage, and hired-and-non-owned — across multiple carriers, with cargo limits sized to your real freight, not the broker minimum.
Get a free coverage reviewCoverage for the freight you're hauling if it's damaged, destroyed, or stolen in your care. It's separate from auto liability (what your truck does to others) and physical damage (your truck itself).
Roughly $400–$1,500 a year for a $100K limit on standard dry freight for a single truck. Reefer and high-theft commodities cost much more. Commodity is the biggest driver.
Usually not an FMCSA mandate for general freight, but nearly every broker and shipper requires proof of at least $100K before tendering a load — so you effectively can't run without it.
Scheduled-only commodities (electronics, alcohol, pharma), reefer spoilage without the reefer endorsement, unattended-vehicle theft, improper loading, and contraband.
Yes, if you haul anything refrigerated. Standard policies often exclude spoilage from reefer failure unless you add it — and a failed reefer load can be a total loss.
Enough to cover your most valuable load, not just the broker minimum. A $100K limit on $150K loads leaves you personally on the hook for the difference.
For general information only. Not a quote or contract of insurance. Cost ranges are illustrative, not filed rates, and vary by commodity, limit, deductible, radius, lanes, equipment, and loss history. Coverage terms, exclusions, security requirements, and availability differ by policy and carrier — confirm specifics with a licensed agent. Coverage subject to policy terms and carrier appetite.