Industry Warned About High Risk of Cargo Theft Over Holiday Weekend
CargoNet and Freightwatch International, two leading companies in logistics risk management and security, have both issued detailed warnings of an increased risk of cargo theft over the Independence Day weekend. The warnings note that organized cargo theft rings are more active in the time around major holidays, and may take advantage of decreased attention to cargo security over the long weekend.
CargoNet’s release included an infographic with details on the 76 total cargo theft incidents that have been reported to them for the week of July 1-7 over the past three years. Those reported incidents had a total loss value of nearly $11 million. The top three targeted commodities of those incidents were 1) food and beverage, 2) electronics, and 3) metals, and 70% of the incidents occurred in one of the top five states for cargo theft. Nineteen of the 76 reported incidents occurred in California, including a $3.5 million electronics theft, and eleven of the thefts occurred in Florida, including three electronics cargo thefts totaling $2.8 million.
Freightwatch International’s warning on the potential for increased cargo theft activity noted that, for incidents reported to them, the average value of thefts over Independence Day weekends from 2010 to 2014 was $145,267. Eight separate incidents from that data set had a declared value of over $250,000.
TIA is a leading voice in the transportation industry in the fight against fraud. TIA Members have exclusive access to TIA Watchdog, a forum that members can use to share information and protect themselves from bad actors. Additionally, TIA’s Fraud Task Force writes and updates TIA’s Framework to Combat Fraud. This document is available on the TIA website to all members, and shares best practices for preventing theft and reacting to incidents. For more information on TIA Watchdog and TIA’s Fraud Task Force, contact Will Sehestedt at sehestedt@tianet.org or 703-299-5713.
