Cargo losses surge as thieves target high-value loads

Cargo theft rings are showing increasing sophistication in identifying and stealing high-value shipments, which are then quickly and easily sold off, experts say.

From networking equipment and copper to olive oil, thieves are targeting loads they know can be readily sold.

“The bad guys are getting better at targeting higher value freight,” said Keith Lewis, Lake Havasu City, Arizona-based vice president of operations at Verisk CargoNet.

Second-quarter cargo theft data show a decline in frequency, or the number of incidents, but a spike in value, according to the most recent report from Verisk CargoNet.

The data analytics company reported 677 incidents in the second quarter, down 26% year-over-year. Estimated losses, however, more than doubled to $304.6 million.

Many of the shipments are pre-sold and transported out of the country quickly, frustrating recovery efforts. Mr. Lewis added.

“The cargo thieves that we’ve seen take control of cargo theft are extremely sophisticated,” said Scott Cornell, Phoenix-based crime and theft specialist at SPG Cargo & Logistics, a cargo insurance managing general agent.

Such rings may operate across dozens of countries and ports and are good at knowing “what to steal and when to steal it,” he said.

The growth of the cargo industry, with more people involved in a transaction, including shippers and freight forwarders, means there are now more points of access to information and data, said Patrick Thomas, the Costa Mesa, California-based managing director, truck strategy, for Howden U.S. That information and data fuels the activity of cargo thieves, he said.

In some instances, criminals even may be working from an order and then hacking into information systems to find a matching cargo load, said Karla Scott, San Francisco-based head of cargo and logistics for MSIG USA.

The U.S. construction boom, driven by data center development, has injected millions of dollars of value into the supply chain, often in highly desirable materials like networking equipment, making them attractive and robust targets for thieves, Ms. Scott said.

Such high-value equipment has also substantially increased the value of individual truckloads from the six-figure range into the seven- and even eight-figure range, Ms. Scott said.

Increased construction and economic activity have made supply chains much more visible and, as a result, more vulnerable, said Janelle Griffith, New York-based managing director and global logistics practice leader for Marsh Risk.

“If you think about high value and high visibility, and how highly visible the supply chains are now, you think about the bad actors; it’s a lot easier for them to target this,” Ms. Griffith said. The rising severity “shows us that there’s a level of selectivity that’s happening now that we really have to pay attention to.”

A new data center site, for example, could likely be located “by looking at the supply chain and paying attention to these new and budding lanes in rural areas that never really had robust supply chains and robust lanes before,” Ms. Griffith said.

There “definitely” appears to be a focus not only on higher-value loads but also on loads with demand that can be moved more quickly, said Ken Mueller, the Atlanta-based head of inland marine at Axa XL, a unit of Axa.

Food products are also a frequent target of thieves, Mr. Mueller said. “Those are easy to move, and there’s a demand in the marketplace.”

To combat rising threats, the cargo industry should increase the sophistication with which it manages exposure, Howden’s Mr. Thomas said. Enhanced verification, possibly even using fingerprint or retinal scan technology, should be deployed, he said. “We need to have constant loops of feedback. We need visual verification.”

Verification should include steps such as validating that a motor carrier number is an actual number from the U.S. Department of Transportation database, rather than relying on a load board, for instance, Mr. Mueller said.

Technology can also play a role, he said, such as digitally tracking truck routes using GPS systems.

There has been “a huge amount of effort” to improve motor carrier verification, Ms. Scott said. Technology companies are now emerging as logistics carrier vetting companies, she said.

Fighting “technology-related theft” should involve technology, Ms. Griffith said. “There has to be crossover,” where technology is implicated, she said.

Employee training can also help bolster defenses, SPG’s Mr. Cornell said. “Train your frontline staff. They’re the ones at a warehouse or at the door that need to be able to spot the red flags on the truck or with the driver.”