Category Archives: Reefer Breakdown

Reefer breakdown is when the cooling unit of a refrigerated trailer stops working. This type of temperature related loss is handled very differently in most truck cargo insurance policies.

This can be a very tricky coverage situation for both truck insurance agents and trucking company owners. Cargo insurance policies are like zebras, each one is different.

This is especially true when it comes to how different policies cover the major causes of cargo loss and damage like reefer breakdown losses.

We make these types of insurance losses easier to understand so that trucking companies might avoid them.

What is “Reefer Breakdown”?

reefer breakdown

  What is reefer breakdown? Reefer breakdown is a trucking industry term that describes an event when the refrigerated unit on a “reefer trailer” breaks down.  What causes that breakdown can be a number of different things including lack of fuel, electrical issues, low oil, a mechanical issue with the unit, etc.  Be sure to…

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Cargo Risk Tip-Don’t Get Left Out In The Cold-FSMA

Just having a box checked “reefer breakdown” with a limit and a deductible on a certificate of insurance doesn’t really mean everything that you think that it does. When I think of “reefer breakdown”, I define it like this: A mechanical or electrical breakdown of the refrigeration unit that is attached to a trailer. That,…

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