Shipping freight into Mexico comes with unique risks, but are you properly insured? Andy Kuchar from Centerline Insurance Company reveals why relying on “contingent” coverage can leave you exposed and what steps brokers and shippers must take to protect their trailers and cargo. Learn how direct per-shipment insurance offers greater security and flexibility for your cross-border operations.
Freight brokers and shippers moving goods across the U.S.-Mexico border face insurance gaps that standard domestic or contingent policies routinely fail to close, according to Andy Kuchar, president of Centerline Insurance Company. With an estimated $420 billion in goods projected to flow through Laredo alone in 2026 — a port that surpassed Chicago as the largest U.S. port of entry in spring 2019 — the stakes for inadequate coverage have never been higher.
Kuchar said the core problem is that brokers and shippers too often rely on a motor carrier’s existing policy or on contingent auto liability coverage, neither of which reliably responds at the moment of a loss. Carrier policies may not schedule a specific trailer, may have lapsed due to a missed financing payment, or simply may not be verifiable in real time. Contingent policies compound the risk by piling on conditions that must simultaneously be true before a claim pays out.
“I kind of scratch my head and go like, wow, I’m not even sure when this would ever be enforced because there’s just so much that has to be true at the time of the loss,” Kuchar said of contingent coverage language.
Centerline has written per-shipment cargo coverage for nearly a decade, domestically and in Mexico, covering freight moving northbound, southbound, and intra-Mexico between factories. A typical domestic example Kuchar cited: a $500,000 load of flat-screen TVs moving from Dallas to Atlanta, where a carrier holds only $100,000 in cargo coverage. Centerline layers on the remaining $400,000 for roughly $80 to $100 per shipment. For Mexico, the company structures coverage on a per-shipper basis — a broker adds a shipper such as a Maytag appliances account, and every load from that shipper triggers a known per-load premium, for example $50 on a $100,000 load of appliances.
Kuchar said Centerline’s loss experience in Mexico is actually lower than in the U.S., a pattern he attributes to more relationship-driven carrier networks south of the border. Mexican theft tends to be over-the-road hijacking, which toll roads largely mitigate. U.S. losses, by contrast, skew toward identity fraud — bad actors impersonating legitimate carriers to pick up loads. Kuchar noted that Centerline’s first stolen Mexico load was $60,000 worth of Play-Doh, which thieves abandoned roadside once they discovered the contents.
When evaluating any Mexico cargo or trailer policy, Kuchar urged brokers and shippers to scrutinize exclusions and conditions carefully. Policies that void coverage if a vehicle was left unattended, or if a loss involved employee theft — an “inside job” scenario — can leave a shipper without recourse even when the broker is blameless. “Who cares who stole it? I just know that I’m out and I want to make my shipper whole,” Kuchar said, noting Centerline carries neither of those exclusions.
The Montgomery ruling, which Kuchar referenced as a catalyst for increased trailer liability awareness, sharpened industry focus on the distinction between arranging transportation and also supplying the asset. He said inquiries for trailer liability coverage spiked immediately after the decision, as companies recognized that owning or leasing trailers hauled by third-party carriers creates an exposure that arrangement-only brokerage does not. Brokers and others seeking a coverage review can contact Centerline through LinkedIn or at centerlinepc.com.
- $420 billion in goods is projected to move through Laredo in 2026, making Mexico-border cargo coverage a critical and growing exposure for brokers and shippers.
- Contingent auto liability policies contain so many conditions that must be simultaneously true at loss time that coverage may effectively never trigger, Centerline’s president warned.
- Centerline structures Mexico cargo coverage on a per-shipper, per-load basis — for example, $50 per $100,000 appliance shipment — with no commodity exclusions, including firearms, pharmaceuticals, and liquor.
This Summary is generated thanks to a transcription of the interview, for the full interview please enjoy the video above.
