What does inland marine insurance cover, despite the name?

The 'marine' in inland marine is historical. Original marine insurance covered ocean cargo. As trade expanded inland (rail, truck, river barge), the marine concept extended to property that moves over land. Modern inland marine has nothing to do with water. It typically covers: contractor equipment and tools (heavy machinery, power tools, hand tools used at job sites); installation floaters (materials and equipment being installed); mobile equipment (bobcats, excavators, lifts, generators); goods in transit (cargo, motor truck cargo); bailees customer coverage (goods held for others, like a repair shop holding customer property); and specialty floaters for high-value scheduled items (camera equipment, musical instruments, jewelry, fine art). The unifying theme is property that moves or is held outside the policyholder's permanent location.