Cargo theft in the US is a growing problem exacerbated by new types of fraud and the increasing participation of organized crime. (See Cargo Theft on the Rise, Report both CargoNet and Overhaul.)
Supply Chain Digest Says...
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Scott Cornell, of insurance firm Travelers, has repeatedly said that cargo thefts have fundamentally changed in the past four or five years, according to Transport Topics. |
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Just recently, Transport Topics, the magazine of the American Trucking Associations, did an article on the heightened theft risk associated with the in-progress peak season 2024.
“So far, this has been a record-breaking year on all fronts for supply chain security and cargo thefts,” Danny Ramon, director of intelligence and LE connect at freight monitoring service provider Overhaul, told Transport Topics.
He added that “I expect to see that continue into the fourth quarter. I expect this is going to be a record-breaking fourth quarter for cargo thefts. I think we’re going to see a record number of strategic thefts committed as the supply chain shifts into overdrive.”
It’s not just the bigger freight numbers seen in peak that is driving the higher theft numbers. Ramon pointed out that security tends lose some attention when the supply chain is moving fast.
He added that some companies cut corners in peak, including in security measures.
Ramon points out to Transport Topics some interesting trends: “We’re starting to see a lot more activity in the middle of the week, and a lot of that activity is being driven by large-scale organized pilferage.”
In fact, Ramos says cargo theft has been such a lucrative practice that some organized crews are reinvested into their operations.
Ramon also observed that cargo thefts used to come from small, often opportunistic operators, such as thieves stealing off the back of a truck. That has changed dramatically.
Meanwhile, Keith Lewis, vice president of operations at security firm CargoNet, told Transport Topics that “We’re starting to see a little uptick” in thefts. Recently, CargoNet observed 75 thefts in just one week, and if that trend holds, it would mean almost 4,000 thefts for the year in the US.
Lewis told Transport Topics that the organizations fighting cargo theft are playing catch-up with the thieves because they’re always developing new techniques to steal freight.
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 Finally, Scott Cornell, of insurance firm Travelers, has repeatedly said that cargo thefts have fundamentally changed in the past four or five years, according to Transport Topics.
Cornell says that the freight industry used deal primarily with small regional crews that mostly consisted of locals that knew each other. They primarily committed straight theft rather than more strategic thefts.
“That changed as criminal organizations became more sophisticated while growing into international operations,” Transport Topics quoted Cornell as observing.
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