Shippers have very limited liability for the packages they deliver. Trucking lines may have limits of one dollar per pound; ships as low as five hundred dollars per container. Your property policy usually lists transportation limits as an extension of coverage of a few thousand dollars.
Obviously, inventory, machinery or products can far exceed these limits in value.
The most inclusive way to cover your property in transit is with a cargo policy which covers loading, transportation, unloading for storage or final destination, storage, loading, transport (on land or sea), unloading and delivery.
Yes, each of these steps can be an exclusion, and often are, in some policy forms.
These policies go back to when shipping by water was the only choice. Ocean Marine coverage begins and ends at the dock with some extensions possible for limited land transport. Inland Marine coverage technically ends or begins at the dock.
Loading and unloading cargo was a dangerous and damaging enterprise, so it was excluded from both forms.
Ships crossing oceans did not have the advantages of weather radar and were at the whims of the winds. When storms were encountered, the ship often lightened its load by throwing cargo overboard. Marine law limited the shippers liability because the act of jettison saved the ship and the other cargo. As a fellow customer, though, your liability to pay your share of the losses was essentially limitless.
The modern cargo policy acknowledges the passage of time and the development of containerized storage and transport. The policy is designed to cover the chain of events that is shipping, including the liability of jettison.
Review your supply chain and customer shipping options. Ask your insurance professional to help design a cargo policy that covers these possibilities.
