Trucking industry pushes Congress for solutions to skyrocketing cargo theft

WASHINGTON — A leading, nationwide trucking company told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that cargo theft is a crisis impacting the entire supply chain that requires immediate action from Congress.

Donna Lemm, chief strategy officer for IMC Logistics, testified on behalf of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) in support of the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, which would establish a coordinated multi-agency response and equip law enforcement with new resources to address a surge of cargo theft incidents happening across the country.

“Rising cargo theft is affecting the trucking industry across the United States,” Lemm said. We cannot stay silent. Cargo theft will continue to metastasize unless Congress recognizes the severity of the problem, law enforcement devotes sufficient time and resources, and the federal government takes a leading role in coordinating enforcement efforts.”

Cargo Crisis

Senators on the subcommittee launched the hearing to investigate these proliferating criminal enterprises that are costing the supply chain up to $35 billion annually while raising consumer prices and insurance costs. Strategic theft — a form of cargo theft that involves deception, fraud, cybertheft, and other sophisticated tactics — has risen 1,500% since the first quarter of 2021, and the average value per theft is over $200,000, according to an ATA press release.

Lemm provided numerous examples of the challenges that motor carriers are facing, not only as they struggle to thwart the onslaught of cargo theft, but also the difficulty of reporting incidents when they occur. Local police typically classify cargo theft as vandalism and consider it an insurance matter. As a result, patterns of lawbreaking behavior across jurisdictions and connections to transnational criminal organizations are often missed.

Criminal Conspiracy

In one case effecting IMC Logistics, cargo thieves stole two containers of refrigerators. Local police filed a report, but no further follow up occurred. Several months later, federal law enforcement raided a warehouse and stumbled across the appliances, which were being stuffed with cash to smuggle money across the southern border. In other words, a crime that local police considered incidental was actually a central element of a much larger criminal conspiracy.

Lemm expressed concern for the safety of supply chain employees and drivers, noting that motor carriers invest millions of dollars in multilayered security, including guards, surveillance equipment, vehicle barriers, tracking technology, cybersecurity, engine immobilizers, and SOS buttons for drivers. Without a backstop from federal law enforcement, however, trucking companies are left battling this scourge on their own, and smaller companies have an especially difficult time keeping up with these criminals’ complex tactics.

Combating Organized Retail Crime Act

In April, a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers introduced the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act. The bill, which was authored by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) and endorsed by ATA, would help law enforcement connect the dots by enhancing legal frameworks, improving enforcement capabilities and fostering coordination among federal, state and local agencies. The Department of Homeland Security would be tasked with leading a cohesive national response to cargo theft.

“The trucking industry is enormously grateful to Senators Grassley and Cortez Masto for their leadership in introducing the Combatting Organized Retail Crime Act,” Lemm said. “This bill would put law enforcement’s level of coordination on par with their sophisticated criminal adversaries and safeguard our national security.”

Dana Guthrie

Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.