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CRIME PREVENTION


CARGO THEFT: WATCH FOR THE PILFERERS


Pallets more likely to be stolen than entire truckloads


The image of tough guys hijacking truckloads of goods is a familiar one to fans of gangster movies. While trucks are the victims of most cargo thefts globally - 75% of them, according to one report - these incidents increasingly do not involve the theft of the entire tractor- trailer.


Instead, cargo theft is increasingly characterized by pilfering: lifting a few boxes or a few pallets of products while a truck is parked at a stop. This tactic makes the job much easier for thieves, on several levels—they don’t have to hide the truck, for example—while making things more difficult for carriers, cargo owners, and law enforcement.


Even when thieves purloin an entire truckload, they are more likely to employ some scheme or scam to take possession of ill-gotten freight than to strong-arm a driver to give up his load. Technology has been deployed in an effort to counter rising cargo theft rates, but thieves have countered with their own technology.


CargoNet recorded 188 cargo thefts across the United States and Canada in third-quarter 2018, a 13% decrease over the same period in 2017. The average cargo value per theft event was $143,949, for a total estimated loss of $13.9 million across the United States and Canada in this period.


number of cargo crime incidents in November 2018, 74.3% of the monthly total." The UK also accounted for most of the total loss value that month.


Back in the USA, California was number one in the nation for cargo thefts in the third quarter with 35 reported incidents, according to CargoNet. Texas ranked second, with 28 reported cargo thefts, overtaking Florida, which dropped from the second-highest state for cargo thefts to sixth. Increases in cargo theft were reported in Illinois and Georgia and the Canadian province of Ontario. New Jersey, usually a hotbed for cargo theft, saw a 73% drop.


Overseas, the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) identified the biggest cargo crime trend for 2018 in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) as the significant increases in loss values. TAPA’s recently published regional cargo crime report for the third quarter of 2018 reported a total loss of $44.6 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 123.3% or around $25 million over the same period in 2017.


Scott Cornell, who heads the transportation business at Travelers Insurance, said the increase in incidents and value in EMEA is likely attributable to an increase in voluntary reporting. That assessment appears to be validated in the TAPA report, which noted that robust reporting in the United Kingdom “meant it was the country in EMEA with the highest


Food and beverage, household goods, and electronics were the usual and perennial top-three categories of cargo stolen in North America, with household products and electronics recording increases in theft incidents in the third quarter. In EMEA, food and drink, furniture and household appliances, cosmetics and hygiene products, and clothing and footwear were the top four cargo categories stolen.


“Household goods thefts jumped because of the catastrophes like hurricanes, floods, and fires that occurred during that time,” said Cornell. “Unfortunately, bad guys will take advantage when they see opportunities and will steal things like building supplies and appliances because of the demand for them when rebuilding is going on.”


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