October, South Africa commemorates #TransportMonth where the Department of Transport and its entities showcase transport infrastructure services in aviation; maritime; public transport and roads. The 2023 theme further advances the country’s road safety initiatives, while also creating awareness of the economic benefits of the sector.

Transport infrastructure is the backbone of our economy, connecting people, goods, and services across regions and borders. It’s not only about roads, railways, airports, and ports; but it’s also about the people behind the various modes of transportation. And, in support of Transport Month Maksure seeks to conscientize clients of the different options of cover they can take up in the transport space.

Truck or Heavy Commercial Vehicle (HCV) insurance products are purpose-designed around the needs of hauliers and transport contractors, focusing specifically on companies that carry goods for reward. The heavy haulage transport industry is a major player in our country’s economy where accidents and unforeseen circumstances can happen at any given moment, as more than 80% of goods are transported on the road.

Managing and maintaining a fleet of heavy commercial vehicles can be challenging as it involves a number of risks. To mitigate these risks, having adequate insurance in place is therefore an absolute must.

Insurers provide insurance products for truck and heavy commercial vehicles against perils such as an accident and associated costs, mechanical breakdown and towing, theft and hijacking, lost keys, and much more – our insurance brokers are equipped to discuss your specific needs with you and identify the key insurable risks with your particular business.

Goods in Transit: This cover is for your business’s goods in transit. Theft or damage to goods in transit can happen at any time due to various circumstances and you, as the owner or the transporter of the goods, may be left out of pocket.

Carrier Liability: This policy covers financial liability that may be incurred in transporting goods.

Environmental Clean Up Cover:  This policy covers transporters of hazardous goods and pollutants, the cost of cleaning up pollution and rehabilitation of the environment after an incident.

Public Liability: This is a compensatory insurance product that covers against injury or damage to property while members of the public were at the business owner’s property.

Passenger liability: This insurance covers drivers and owners of transport mediums against claims by individuals injured due to an accident.

Marine cover: This policy indemnifies owners or freight and cargo companies for loss or damage to goods carried by air, road, rail and sea.

Aviation: This insurance provides cover losses of hull, liability incurred due to injury to passengers, environmental and third-party damage due to an aircraft incident.

“In support of #TransportMonth and any other time; we advise our clients to ensure consistent compliance in their daily operations, by making sure that their drivers have valid PDP licences as well as that they abide to the rule of ensuring they park in safe spots like truck stops or any nearest garage. This way they mitigate the risks such as road accidents; or hijacking for our Heavy Haulage clients. The hazard our environments face due to chemical spills, fuel spills, paint spills and non-hazardous spills, we have taken a step further to encourage our clients to consider the environmental clean-up cover that helps clean up road’s, vegetation, including water sources that may have been affected by pollution”, remarks Yvonne Chigumira.

As a risk mitigation measure, we encourage our clients to have a tracking device with a remote satellite tracking mechanism installed, that helps them track their journey and advise of safe routes suitable for the cargo they carry.

“We may be wrapping up transport month but the wheels keep turning in our transport and business networks. We understand that the transport sector contributes 6.5% of GDP and the value it brings in creating employment and improving of trade. Therefore, we take it upon ourselves to understand their needs, design tailor made products that meet our specific clients’ needs as each of them have a unique contribution they make to the industry” writes Yvonne.

Yvonne Chigumira is the Branch Manager, Gauteng Region at Maksure Risk Solutions.

Contact our teams on Tel +27 11 805 0086 or Email: info@maksure.co.za.

About Maksure Risk Solutions

Maksure Risk Solutions is an Afro-Global independent specialist insurance and reinsurance broker with business footprint in Africa, Asia, East & Western Europe, South America and the Caribbean. We provide innovative and tailor-made risk solutions in Insurance and Reinsurance as well as Risk Financing and Actuarial Consulting geared towards capital management and strengthening our client’s balance sheet. Maksure is also one of the major players in Captive Management (Establishment & Management) in South Africa, Mauritius, Bermuda and various other jurisdictions. We have access into the Lloyds of London with a deep understanding of African markets. Our global nature ensures that our clients access quality capacity as well as some of the world’s latest thinking and solutions.