It’s an unhappy fact of transportation companies that accidents happen. This is especially applicable to those who run commercial trucking companies. Commercial trucks are on the road for long stretches at a time, traveling long distances, moving along freeways and surface streets alike, passing and being passed by thousands of other vehicles each trip.

Accidents also happen while a truck is not moving. Drivers need to rest and other trucks or vehicles can hit a commercial vehicle parked in a lot. Theft or vandalism can occur.

And this can be especially problematic if a truck’s cargo (also known as freight) is damaged or stolen. If you own a commercial trucking company, you should seriously look into purchasing cargo insurance, even though you may not be “required” to do so by law.

Freight insurance protects you from liability when the cargo you are carrying is lost or damaged while it’s under your care. If you’re carrying the freight under “common carrier authority” you are required to have evidence on file that you have bodily injury and property damage, as well as cargo insurance. If you have “contract authority” only with the company for which you’re shipping cargo, you’ll need only bodily injury and property damage insurance. (Be sure you have proof of that insurance on file).

Yet here’s a bit of a mystery: The company for which you’re shipping freight ultimately is responsible for the cargo, and should carry insurance itself in the case of theft, loss or damage. But your client may not know that.

So even in the case where you’re not “required” to carry freight insurance, you may want to consider purchasing the insurance yourself. This can help smooth your relationship with your client when the client discovers that he or she ultimately was responsible for the insurance. You can use the fact that you’ve purchased freight insurance as a marketing tool; it can help differentiate you from your competitors.

Purchasing freight insurance will see evaluating the financial exposure brought to you by each individual load. You’ll want to evaluate each load carefully to ensure that you’re adequately protected because under-insuring can prove very damaging to your bottom line should you find that your coverage doesn’t match the damage amount. You’ll also need to double check on any exclusions your freight insurance policy may have. Does it have exclusions for unattended vehicles, for example? What are the maximum theft limitations on freight such as clothing, liquor, electronics, and so on.

Be sure you know what your freight insurance policy covers.

David Judge is a provider of trucking insurance quotes, along with Texas DOT licensing and operating authority for the lower 48 states. His company, Your Authority Service, helps trucking companies operate for less.