For cargo theft within the US and Canada, data collection is difficult—different organizations, some of which are government and some not, use different criteria for reporting cargo theft crimes. There is a lot of estimating going on. Even the FBI data on the subject is incomplete because not all cities and law agencies report crimes to the FBI. Moreover, not all the data presented is farmed from the same reporting year. So, keep in mind the numbers I am presenting may differ from some reporting agencies. Unless referenced otherwise, for this article, for base numbers, I am using ‘Transport Topics’ (www.ttnews.com), which cites ‘Verisk CargoNet’ (www.cargonet.com) reporting for 2024.
According to Transport Topics, in 2024, cargo theft in the trucking industry was 27% higher than in 2023 in North America. That works out to 3,625 thefts totaling $733,569,500 in estimated losses for the year 2024 that were reported. It should be noted that some thefts go unreported due to the amounts stolen being smaller or victims not wanting to impact their insurance. But keeping the amount of dollars lost in thefts small is difficult. Using those numbers, it averages $202,364 per theft. According to FreightWaves (www.freigthwaves.com), cargo thefts spiked in Q4 by 68% year over Q3. Food and beverages were a big part of that 68% increase.
Why food and beverage? Because food and beverages can quickly be sold anywhere from anyone to anyone. Additionally, food and beverages are very difficult to track. While many have ‘lot numbers’ printed on them, they are seldom on the street long enough to be tracked down. The goods can go from truck to stolen, to warehouse, to flea markets and Mom and Pop corner stores (Mom and Pops who don’t care where things come from, that is.) to someone’s pantry in a matter of a week. While the most sources cite 20% to 30% recovery rate, ‘Loss Prevention Magazine’ (www.losspreventionmedia.com) states that less than 20% of freight stolen is ever recovered.
Bank robbery is a problem too. We hear of a bank being robbed every week. That isn’t surprising considering, according to Statista, as of 2023, almost fifty banks a week are robbed in our country. As stated by FBI data, the average bank robbery haul is $4200. Fifty X $4200 is $210,000 robbed from banks weekly in the US with an average 20% recovery rate! No wonder banks have so many risk mitigation tools such as vaults, stringent security measures, bountiful oversight, cameras, and, in many cases, armed guards.
Can you imagine any other industry with such a theft burden as banks? Sure you can. It is our good old transportation industry. As of 2024, there have been almost seventy cargo thefts per week, with an average loss of $ 202,364. That is approximately $14,265,480 of cargo stolen a week in North America.
Okay, banks carry the burden of $210,000 worth of thefts a week. What do you think the weekly theft dollar figure from banks would look like if there were not all those nifty security measures I mentioned earlier? No armed guards, no cameras, no oversite, and instead of bank vaults, they used a padlock from Ace Hardware to lock up the loot. You betcha, banks would be overrun with thefts. In essence, that situation could be just how thieves look at the transportation industry. They are just one unattended truck or warehouse and a flimsy padlock away from scoring some easy cash.
Some shippers, trucking companies, and warehouses have the mistaken idea that they somehow have a measure of protection via ‘the odds.’ The thought process can be, ‘Of all the trucks and warehouses in this burg, what are the chances thieves will pick me?’ And that logic is the very reason they will be picked. They are not the ‘needle in the needle stack’ they think they are. The needle in a needle stack belief leads to lax security measures, which thieves will sniff out and take advantage of.
Some safeguards and procedures can mitigate cargo theft risk. Most are inexpensive, if not downright free, and not too difficult. For what time and investment you do make in the safeguards, the return on investment would be something Warran Buffet would admire.
Basic Best Practice
Items such as laptops, cell phones, LCD TVs, and other desirable theft commodities should be packaged in ‘blank’ packaging, and the bill of lading should be as vague as possible. If you cannot have blank cartons, use black shrink wrap and band the pallets well. Bill of ladings and pallet labels stuck to the outside of pallets do not have to be specific for domestic transport. Cell phones and laptops can be stated as ‘miscellaneous electronics’ on the transit documentation. Code numbers can be used for outer pallet labels, with more specific manifests reserved for the inside of the pallet wrap. If a thief of opportunity is rummaging through the back of a trailer looking to run off with several cartons, they may not wish to waste time and labor accessing cartons in a well-wrapped and banded pallet for an unknown reward. However, they will be sure to grab a carton that says ‘Apple or Samsung’ on it.
Cargo thefts increase by up to 40% over holiday weekends. We do love our long weekends, don’t we? So do the criminals. While we take some well-deserved time off, criminals are punching their time clock to go to work. The three most active theft locations are;
Parking Lots Truck Stops Warehouses and DC’s
The criminals know there will be as much, or more, unattended freight over extra-long holiday weekends than there will at any time of year. If you have a choice, adjust your shipping schedule to have your freight delivered before the holiday or pick up after the holiday. If your truck freight must move over the holiday, practices such as ISO-compliant barrier seals in combination with hardened padlocks, air brake valve locks, and kingpin locks will help deter some thieves.
Ask your carrier if the trailer your freight will ride in will be parked in a secured terminal for any layovers. The lion’s share of freight theft is whole trailer container load and the largest share of those is unattended trailers/containers. Remember, a trailer in a secured area is one of your best options. The best trailer lock is of no value if the doors are removed from the trailer or a thief has plenty of time and a few tools in a remote area.
Deserted warehouses will also be the prime targets. Double-checking the proper function of all security cameras, door, and window locks, and checking the good working order of all barrier protection like fences and quality gate locks are a must. If criminals do get in, there is no need to help them once they are. It is wise to remove the keys from all material-moving machinery, such as forklifts and yard dogs. Hardened padlocks all trailers in the yard, even if empty, and lock as many interior thru doors as possible. One tool I used to employ when there was room was backing the trailers rear end to rear end, making access to the trailer doors more difficult. I also tried having the drivers back up against the building wall but that didn’t go well if the driver was inexperienced.
There is no such thing as a false alarm over a holiday weekend. One small tool many people miss is police drive-by patrol help. Unless you are a wanted meth-cooker, call your local police department and let them know the warehouse will be empty and for how long. The police would rather prevent a crime than investigate a crime. Letting them know your warehouse will become a prime target over the holiday will help the police prevent a crime. Officers have to sit somewhere filling out reports in their cruiser. Why not near or at your facility? If you are indeed a wanted meth cooker, it may be better to have someone else call.
Don’t overlook organized, targeted theft. Cyber thieves posing as legitimate truckers will always try to take advantage of shippers in a hurry to get freight booked and loaded. Comprehensive due diligence in booking trucks is more important than ever. ‘Strategic cargo theft’ is the fastest-growing form of cargo theft. Verify the trucking company name on the door and the tag number. Ask for, and make a copy of, the driver’s license. Making sure the picture matches the person is important. Make sure the agent or dispatcher’s phone number you booked the freight with matches the trucking company’s phone and fax number on the record. If not, call the carrier on their main phone number, not the number that called to book the load, to confirm the agent and the truck.
Watch for fuel advance requests and lower-than-market quotes for your freight. Taking the lowest bid may be handing your freight to a criminal. I am not picking on anyone, but the highest cargo theft rates in the county are in California, Texas, Georgia, and New Jersey. And again, the time just before the holidays is prime time for fraudulent pickups. Thieves know shippers and brokers will be desperate to cover and load shipments before the holiday and may be apt to rush a booking through so they can get to their holiday plans. There would be no easier time to execute a carrier identity theft. Consequently, the verifications I mentioned earlier are more critical than ever before the holidays.
Keep ‘hot zones’ in mind. Hot zones are throughout the country, but you typically find them near gateway areas such as Los Angeles, New York / New Jersey, Chicago, Houston/Dallas, Atlanta, and South Florida; in short, heavy cargo traffic areas. Thieves capitalize on massive numbers of full trucks in those areas. In addition, since the gateways are typically near large cities, there are endless places to sell the goods.
The hot zones are a perfect place for smash and grabs, especially if the truck is unattended. Not the smash-and-grabs in jewelry stores you see on the evening news, but the smash-and-grabs truckers endure as a part of their job. When a trucker stops for anything in the hot zones, from going to the bathroom, grabbing lunch, or even a train crossing, thieves come from nowhere, smash the lock off the trailer, and throw cargo out of the back of the truck. Even worse, strong-arm robbery can be included. Drivers are powerless to stop them until they can continue to drive again and get away from the swarming thieves. The best weapon against smash and grabs is equipping your trailers with hardened locks that will make gaining access to the trailer difficult and give the driver enough time to get away from the attackers.
Along with really good, hardened trailer locks (see a pattern with hardened ones), the best way to combat truck theft in these areas is to not stop in hot zones. Truckers cannot dictate where they must pick up freight, but to an extent, they can control where they stop afterward. The best weapon is working with shippers to maximize the driver’s ability to put space between them and the hot zones before shutting down.
In terms of targeted thefts like hijackings, the first positive impact thing a shipper can do is know their carriers. The trucking companies and drivers are the best suited to prevent truck thefts en route, but shippers and 3PLs can be partners in the effort. On-the-road freight thefts can take the form of the cargo, or a whole truck, being stolen while unattended, to a dangerous hijacking by getting the driver to pullover by faking an emergency, telling the driver something is wrong with their rig, such as smoking brakes, rear door open, or dangling light assembly. Once the driver pulls over to check their trailer, they are pounced upon, and their truck is hijacked.
First, someone must alert the hijackers about what truck to target. Bold thefts like hijackings are not executed on a hunch. Otherwise the thieves may end up taking the risk for a load of wet cow hides. The best way for hijackers to receive information on shipment commodities is from shippers, the 3PL, the carrier, or even the consignee. When hired, shippers, 3PLs, and the trucking company should run background checks on all staff. Shippers working closely with their transportation partners make this realistic. If a shipper’s primary source for trucks is the posting boards, then joint background checks would not be practical. Will joint employee background checks catch a thief related to a particular shipment? Probably not. However, background checks may stop thieves from appearing for second job interviews.
Suppose there are thieves alerted to shipments of an attractive commodity to target. In that case, they may wait and shadow a truck until the driver stops to eat and fuel, get rest, or take care of personal needs. The driver stopping is a good time for thieves to steal the entire truck. How can a thief be prevented from stealing an unattended truck? Make sure not to leave the truck unattended, at least initially. Like the tactic of making space between trucks and hot zones to prevent smash and grabs, the same logic can be used to avoid hijackings, except using more space.
With shippers and truckers working together, trucks can be scheduled so that the driver can pick up and drive two or, better yet, three hundred miles before stopping. Thieves shadowing a truck will only follow so far before they find themselves getting too far away from their secondary resources in place to deal with the stolen truck and cargo. Thieves will be forced to break away and await another opportunity. Granted, getting a truck to the dock door with a fed driver, an empty bladder, enough on-duty hours left, and all fueled up takes planning and cooperation. Although getting back to a recurring theme, carriers who are considered core, which are used often, and don’t have to survive a bloody quote-fest to get every load, can be very accommodating. Not getting robbed is in their best interest too.
This article is in no way a comprehensive guide to all methods to prevent freight losses. It can however be an indicator there are steps you can take for little or no cost to help reduce losses. being aware of loss mitigation techniques is only a part of the risk mitigation battle. Updating your procedures as the volume and the shipping environment change is needed as well. As your company grows and changes so must your freight risk mitigation procedures. The last portion is using the techniques day after day, month after month, year after year, and keeping your team motivated to follow the best practice procedures continuously. Any fool can put practice and procedures on paper. Keeping the procedures practical, alive, and kinetic in use is the trick. Time passing, deadlines to beat, apathy, and personnel/management changes can be cargo risk mitigation kryptonite. Don’t let the subject of risk mitigation become one more motivational poster on the wall that becomes invisible. I’m just saying.