SCDigest has reported many times on growing levels of US cargo theft, driven by the rising involvement of organized crime and new types of cargo fraud, among other factors.

It’s getting worse.

Supply Chain Digest Says... Another issue for shippers and logistics firms: Cargo theft, is almost always considered a property crime and thus often coming in low on the law enforcement priority list. What do you say? Click here to send us your comments

According to a report on CNBC last week, “From coast to coast, organized criminalgroups are hitting trucks on the road, breaking into warehouses and pilfering expensive items from train cars.”

The CNBC report is extensive, based on talking with dozens of sources over six months.

Freight security company Verisk CargoNet identified 3,798 incidents of cargo theft in 2024, a new record representing a 26% increase over 2023.

Perhaps even more staggering is this number: Verisk CargoNet also found that total reported losses from those thefts involved about $455 million, a figure that may significantly understate the real losses because many cases go unreported, with the actual number perhaps as much as $1 billion annually.

Perhaps surprisingly, theft from rail cars is a major driver of the overall growth in incidents, up 40% last year. Rail theft can involve thieves ripping open rail cars as cargo trains slow when approaching urban terminals or cutting brake lines on long trains, forcing the train to stop, when thieves again open the cars and quickly drive away with the loot.

Fraudulent pick-ups of cargo trailers are also growing rapidly, up from 8% of all cargo thefts in 2020 to about one-third last year, again according to data from Verisk CargoNet.

The CNBC report says catching and convicting these criminals is very difficult.

“There’s no deterrent for these guys,” Jerry Jacobs, who oversees risk management at freight broker Prosponsive Logistics in Atlanta told CNBC, adding that the criminals “literally have a license to steal.”

Jacobs explained to CNBC how one type of cargo theft works.

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The thieves first steal a broker’s identity and start booking shipments. Their goal: convince a legitimate trucking company to pick up a shipment and unwittingly deliver it so that the criminals, rather than the real carriers, will get paid.

“They [the thieves] have people who are literally pulling the information off websites, scraping it, in some cases,” Barry Conlon, CEO of freight security firm Overhaul, told CNBC. “And then they’re attacking at a chosen location once they see the product they want. And it’s literally gone into the supply chain within days.”

Another issue for shippers and logistics firms: Cargo theft, is almost always considered a property crime and thus often coming in low on the law enforcement priority list.

And according to industry experts, it’s underreported for a reason. CNBC says.

“A lot of cases, they don’t report it because they feel they’re not going to get it back. It’s been weeks since they lost it and they’ve just found out about it,” Conlon said.

We can expect more of the same in 2025. Overhaul estimates there will be a 25% increase in incidents of cargo theft this year.

The full CNBC report can be found here.

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