© Ekaterina Usenko
Forwarders shipping flowers, pharmaceuticals and other sensitive cargo are being offered a tracking and insurance package combining fixed payouts for qualifying delays with cover for temperature-related losses.
Airfreight wholesaler Solent Freight Services, technology provider Tag-N-Trac and insurance specialist Otonomi have launched TRACinSURED, bringing shipment monitoring and insurance into a single subscription product.
For a flower shipment from Ecuador, a forwarder would enrol the consignment by assigning its airway bill to the system, receiving confirmation once insurance was bound.
“As an illustrative figure for the trial programme, the current pricing discussed is approximately $100 for $2,500 of insured value, including the data logger,” Solent chief marketing officer Nataliya Zagorodnova told The Loadstar.
Final commercial pricing and the trigger schedule are still being approved but customers will be offered monthly and annual subscriptions, with tracking available from airport to door or door to door.
Ms Zagorodnova said the package’s principal advantage was bringing visibility and protection together.
“It is therefore less about simply offering a cheaper version of conventional cargo insurance and more about providing a new type of bundled risk-management product,” she said.
The package combines two different insurance mechanisms. Delay cover is parametric: a defined event triggers a pre-agreed payout, without requiring the customer to demonstrate the extent of physical damage to the goods. Solent said the current structure included six- and 12-hour delay thresholds.
Temperature excursion cover, however, is non-parametric and requires proof of loss, with the sensor record supporting the claim.
Tag-N-Trac’s smart labels and trackers monitor location, temperature, humidity, shock, light and tampering at item, carton or pallet level.
“Solent has spent more than 30 years handling fresh-cut flowers, fruits, pharmaceuticals and other highly perishable cargo where temperature, timing and visibility can determine whether a shipment succeeds or fails,” said chief executive Simon Milne.
“For years, we – along with the transportation industry worldwide – have been looking for a way to bring shipment tracking, temperature monitoring and delay protection together in one simple, powerful package.”
Otonomi designs and administers the insurance. Ms Zagorodnova said it was underwritten through Lloyd’s.
The partners say qualifying parametric claims can typically be settled within days. Payouts are agreed in advance and may differ from the actual loss.
The product is also intended for use beyond Solent’s own freight network.
“Solent’s role is not to become the operational carrier for every insured shipment,” Ms Zagorodnova explained. “The freight forwarder remains responsible for operating the shipment; TRACinSURED provides the tracking and insurance solution.”
However, shipment visibility does not come with an automatic intervention service.
“Customers should not assume that every alert automatically triggers corrective action, rerouting or other physical intervention,” she said. “Operational decisions remain with the freight forwarder or logistics operator handling the shipment.”
Solent is targeting global distribution, with active countries, lanes and underwriting arrangements subject to confirmation during the rollout.
The launch programme includes an introduction at Ecuador’s flower show on 6–8 October, followed by a fuller launch at TIACA’s Air Cargo Forum in Miami later this month.
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