SAN PEDRO GARZA GARCÍA, NL.– The operator’s immediate action, the preservation of evidence, and compliance with the policy conditions are crucial for an insurer to recognize a loss and proceed with cargo compensation.
During a workshop “ Road Accident: What would you do?” , which took place at ETYL MTY 2026 , Juan Carlos Benavides, CEO of BAS Cargo Insurance , commented that one of the biggest challenges for logistics and transportation companies is not only dealing with theft, rollovers or accidents, but acting correctly from the first minute of the incident.
He explained that for a claim to be valid, the event must be “sudden and unexpected ,” a definition under which cargo insurance policies generally operate.
In that regard, he warned that many claims are rejected due to what insurers call “aggravation of risk,” that is, when the carrier or operator fails to comply with safety measures previously established in the policy, such as traveling on free roads when the contract requires the use of toll highways .
According to BAS Cargo’s own statistics, theft continues to be the leading cause of accidents in the freight transport industry. So far in 2026, they have responded to 79 thefts, 30 rollovers, 16 collisions, and seven fires .
In the so-called Ordinary Traffic Risks (ORT), rollovers represent 55% of cases, followed by collisions with 29%, fires with 13% and other events with 3 percent.
One of the phenomena associated with rollovers is looting , a practice that appears in practically all accidents of this type, regardless of the value or nature of the goods being transported.
In this regard, he stated that cargo insurance operates primarily based on documentary evidence . Therefore, in the event of an incident, documentation such as the Bill of Lading, invoices, driver identification, a police report, GPS records, route sheet, and photographic evidence of the incident are required. Additionally, the involvement of the National Guard or the relevant authorities is essential.
However, he stated that among the priority actions following an accident are safeguarding the operator’s physical integrity , immediately reporting to the authorities, securing the incident area, preserving evidence, and documenting the event with photographs and videos. Determining who will be financially responsible for a loss requires a detailed investigation.
To do this, insurers analyze aspects such as what happened, where it happened, how the damage occurred, who had custody of the cargo, and whether the security conditions established in the policy were met.
In this regard, Juan Carlos Benavides emphasized that an appropriate response from the first few minutes can make the difference between recovering the value of the merchandise and facing significant economic losses.
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