Each year millions of shipments are accepted from customers and sped to their destination in perfect order. However, sometimes freight is damaged as it is being loaded or unloaded, while it is being moved about the terminal, or it can even be damaged while on the truck if it is not packaged or loaded properly. Or it may be stolen, hijacked, or damaged in a terminal, truck, or trailer.
A motor carrier's reputation is often based on the speed, courtesy, and fairness with which claims are investigated, handled, and adjusted.
A career in claims or in the insurance department of a motor carrier is an interesting one for a person who likes contact with people and has a pleasing manner both over the telephone and in person.
What the Claims Investigator and Adjuster Do?
The claims adjuster or the over-short and damage clerk (OS&D) frequently provides one of the few personal contacts customers have with a company, other than the motor carrier salesman who calls on them to explain and sell the company's service.
A claims agent is required by federal regulations to investigate thoroughly all claims. This involves tracing shipments in transit and determining who was at fault and either accepting liability, or determining if the shipper was liable in the event the shipment was not labeled or packaged properly, and usually working out a compromise settlement that is agreeable to all parties.
The claims investigator and adjuster must be familiar with freight rates and have full understanding of commodity values as well as insurance procedures.
Claims Control
The most important job of the claims department of a motor carrier is the prevention of claims. To do so the claims specialist often conducts training programs for drivers as well as for the dock handlers and the other terminal personnel who will actually move the customer's shipment at one time or another.
A big part of the job is training company personnel to recognize a shipment that is not packaged properly. Sometimes this requires the drivers to refuse a shipment at point of origin rather than risk an expensive claim.
There have been cases in which a 50-gallon drum of a relatively harmless liquid or chemical leaked or ruptured and ruined expensive commodities being carried in the same trailer.
Drivers must be trained to know how their truck or trailer should be properly loaded even if they do not load it themselves. They must know where freight is to be placed, how it is to be stacked and secured within the trailer so that it will not break loose in transit. All of this training is conducted by the claims department, and bulletins and posters throughout a company's terminals help to educate freight workers.
Insurance a Big Factor
A trucking company spends a great deal of money on insurance to protect its employees, its customers, and itself from claims arising from accidents to people or property.
Each day, millions of dollars worth of equipment and cargo are rolling across the highways and all of it is insured at great cost.
The specialist who knows how to purchase insurance and administer insurance programs is indeed a valuable asset to his company.
Federal and state regulations require certain types of insurance, and the knowledge of these insurance requirements and the types of insurance that best meet the requirements will result in dollars-and-cents savings for the company.
Starting a Career in Claims or Insurance
It is possible to go to work in the claims department as a trainee directly from high school, although with more education the entry would be easier and the possibilities more widespread.
Some of the jobs that can lead to a claims career are billing clerk, OS&D clerk, claims adjuster, and claims supervisor.
It is possible to go from one of the entry jobs in claims to that of a claims supervisor or an insurance adjuster.
Executives who purchase and administer the insurance activities of a major motor carrier are specialists who either have had some background in insurance before joining the company or came up through the ranks of company headquarters or office personnel.
All of those higher positions require a high school education, and some require at least two years of college and a minimum of two to five years of experience in some phase of the company's claims or customer service departments.
Special Courses Aid a Career in Claims and Insurance
In addition to a basic high school education, special education to assist a person in the area of claims and insurance would include such courses as Principles of Insurance, Accident and Casualty Insurance, Business Letter Writing, Fire Insurance, Safety Engineering, and Business Law.
