How to Protect Your Freight with Shipping Insurance

Shipping insurance protects goods while they are in transit. It covers damage, loss, or theft during shipping. Every shipper, 3PL, and freight broker should know how shipping insurance works.

Most carriers offer limited default coverage. However, that coverage rarely matches the true value of your goods. That’s why many businesses add extra shipping insurance before a shipment moves.

Using ViewPoint TMS, you can easily add shipping insurance on the fly. The system lets you maximize the carrier’s liability first and then only pay for additional coverage as needed.

ViewPoint TMS is a powerful Transportation Management System (TMS). It helps shippers manage their loads, rates, BOL creation, and yes — shipping insurance too. You can enter your load details, generate your BOL, and add shipping insurance coverage all in one place.

You can also route shipping insurance across multiple modes. Whether it’s LTL or full truckload (FTL), ViewPoint TMS finds you the extra cargo liability insurance you need. The process is automated, simple, and incredibly fast. This amazing feature is not exclusively used by manufacturing and distribution companies, but other 3PLs, freight brokers, and freight forwarders can use ViewPoint TMS to route shipments and purchase additional cargo insurance. ViewPoint TMS allows not just shippers, but also freight brokers and forwarders, to add extra shipping insurance instantly.

Better yet, ViewPoint TMS ensures you only buy what you truly need. It taps into the carrier's default coverage first, then extends protection by adding only the extra insurance you require.

Cargo liability insurance covers the shipper directly. It pays for freight loss or damage during normal transportation. Most carriers include some level of cargo liability insurance in their standard terms, however it varies significantly by freight class and mode of transportation.

Contingent cargo insurance works differently. It protects third parties like freight brokers or 3PLs when a carrier’s primary policy fails. It acts as a secondary backup, not a replacement for primary insurance.

We offer support for cargo liability insurance and have our own contingent cargo insurance policy as a 3PL. Our own coverage is to protect customers in extremely outlier situations, and not every commodity or customer is covered by this policy. If you have a question and need clarity on coverage please be sure to reach out prior to load tendering. Again, cargo liability insurance is different from contingent coverage - ViewPoint supports shippers at adding additional cargo liability to shipments that need extra coverage beyond the default carrier liability.

TLI is not a shipping insurance company. Instead, we are a 3PL offering managed transportation services. We integrate shipping insurance solutions directly into ViewPoint TMS for maximum convenience.

Through ViewPoint TMS, you can handle freight claims management, shipment audits, and insurance needs in one cloud-based portal. We streamline everything so you can focus on scaling your business without risk exposure.

For some commodities, TLI offers contingent cargo insurance options. However, it’s important to note this is not available for every commodity. Always confirm coverage needs, which will largely be cargo liability coverage, with TLI before you schedule a shipment for pickup.