US cargo thefts continue to be a serious issue for shippers and carriers, fueled by the increasing role of organized crime in the trucking sector and new types of fraud.
US theft growth slowed a bit in Q2, rising a modest 4% over Q1, at 525 incidents across the nation. But thefts in Q2 were up a much stronger 33% versus the same period las year.
All that and more in a new report last week from risk management vendor Overhaul.
However, In the full first half of 2025, cargo theft in the United States increased by 10% compared to the same period in 2024, a rise slightly below early-year projection.
Nonetheless, Overhaul says, this trend continues to highlight cargo theft as an ongoing issue.
Looking ahead, the company expects a similar pattern to what was observed in 2023 and 2024, when theft activity began to climb as early as July, leading up to the busy peak season. As a result, Overhaul’s prediction for the second half of 2025 is that there will be at least a 15% increase in cargo theft incidents, driven by heightened economic and logistics activity in the latter part of the year.
Thefts Per Day & Hour
In Q2-2025, Overhaul reports there was a noticeable shift in the pattern of cargo theft incidents, with a more even distribution of thefts occurring across Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, each seeing significant activity.
Mondays and Fridays each accounted for 17% of incidents, Wednesdays for 18%, and Tuesdays for 16%. This marks a change from Q1-2025, when Mondays previously stood out significantly.
As for timetables, the incidents were more evenly spread throughout the day compared to previous quarters. The early morning hours from 12:00 AM to 6:00 AM accounted for 27% of all thefts, followed closely by the 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM periods, each recording 28% and 26% respectively.
The evening hours from 6:00 PM to 12:00 AM saw the least activity with 19% of incidents. This distribution marks a shift from Q1-2025, where a significant increase in incidents was noted during the 12:00 AM to 6:00 AM period, according to Overhaul’s data.
California continued to lead in cargo theft incidents by state in Q2, accounting for 38% of the total, a slight decrease from 39% in Q1-2025, but an increase from 32% in Q2-2024. Texas ranked second, with 18% of total theft incidents, down from 21% in both Q1-2025 and Q2-2024.
(See More Below)
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Electronics and Food & Drinks were tied as the most targeted product categories, each accounting for 16% of thefts, Overhaul says. For Food & Drinks, coffee, energy drinks, and sports drinks constituted 21% of incidents, with produce and candy, cookies, and snacks each at 15%. Home & Garden ranked third, contributing to 13% of thefts, dominated by appliances at 38% and pet supplies at 21%. These top three categories comprised 45% of total thefts.
Pilferage remained the most common method of cargo theft, according to Overhaul, accounting for 52% of all reported incidents. Theft of full truckload accounted for 22% of thefts in Q2, with the most reports coming from Texas (56%), followed by Illinois (12%), Pennsylvania (7%), and California (7%). Facility theft was steady at 14%. Deceptive pickup incidents increased to 7%, and last-mile courier thefts decreased to 2%. Hijacking incidents rose, representing 3% of the total thefts.
There is a lot more data in the full report, available from Overhaul here: United States Q2-2025 Cargo Theft Report
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