F3 chat: Filling big gap in insuring freight moving to Mexico

This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves’ F3 Virtual Experience on Tuesday.

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Insuring across borders: The growth of coverage on freight shipments going to Mexico

DETAILS: Freight moving across the border into Mexico formerly had shipped without insurance coverage because of a tangle of rules. But the rise of borderless coverage has been a significant aid to those shippers who are involved in trade between the U.S. and its southern neighbor.

SPEAKER: Mark Vickers, executive vice president of Reliance Partners, is interviewed by FreightWaves Editor at Large John Kingston.

BIO: Vickers joined Reliance Partners as EVP of international logistics in 2021 after its acquisition of Borderless Coverage. He is an international logistics executive who has spent the past decade working to reduce the cost and friction associated with cross-border trade between NAFTA (now USMCA) countries. He specializes in domestic and international transportation, trucking and logistics insurance. Prior to serving as CEO of Borderless Coverage, Vickers spent more than eight years at Total Quality Logistics and MarcoPoint LLC.

KEY QUOTES FROM VICKERS:

“When moving freight into Mexico, most brokers or carriers are forcing their shipper clients to sign a waiver to state that they are definitely not liable for anything at all that happens to that freight in Mexico. One of the reasons for that is Mexican law. And Mexican law is much different than what you’ll find in the U.S. and Canada.”

“The logistics provider in Mexico has a slight bit of liability but it’s almost nothing. It’s not even worth mentioning.”

“The shipper needs to understand that they are taking on risk moving that freight into Mexico. That is the issue we have been solving over the last six years.”

“Rather than getting no insurance in Mexico, the shipper or brokers or motor carriers can obtain cross-border coverage where the freight is covered from the moment of pickup until final delivery in Mexico.”

On why cross-border insurance didn’t exist until relatively recently: “The data wasn’t there and the underwriter just didn’t understand the exposure that was in Mexico.”