BOSTON, Mass. — SmartSense by Digi is releasing findings from its Cargo Theft Report, based on a survey of 150 U.S.-based loss and organized retail crime (ORC) prevention leaders.
“Cargo thieves have continued to escalate their tactics and expand their use of technology,” said Guy Yehiav, president, SmartSense. “Businesses need to evolve with it. New forms of instantaneous location tracking and visibility intelligence are needed to understand what normal movement looks like, identify anomalies quickly and act before suspicious activity turns into a multimillion-dollar loss.”
As organizations face increasingly sophisticated and diverse cargo crime threats, this study examines expert perspectives on the tactics driving cargo theft, the financial impact on businesses and the strategies leaders believe are most effective for reducing risk.
The findings reveal that cargo theft has become an increasingly coordinated and sophisticated threat. 81% of respondents report it has become more organized in recent years, while 79% say their organization is more concerned about cargo theft today than ever before.
The Supply Chain Under Siege
Cargo theft is evolving rapidly. According to the survey, businesses are facing highly coordinated criminal networks that exploit vulnerabilities across the supply chain using increasingly sophisticated tactics.
Key findings include:
- 63% say cargo theft incidents have increased compared with last year;
- 81% say organized retail crime (ORC) is a growing concern for their organization;
- 80% say that cargo theft incidents have led to lost sales for their organization;
- 40% report annual losses of at least $1 million due to cargo theft, and 28% report annual losses of more than $2 million.
Top Cargo Theft Concerns
When asked about cargo theft tactics, respondents identified fraudulent pickups and carrier impersonation (78%), GPS jamming and spoofing (71%), trailer theft (66%) and double brokering (64%) as their top concerns.
The data paints a troubling picture of increasingly organized criminal operations targeting U.S. supply chains through a wide range of tactics designed to evade traditional security measures.
“Cargo theft is increasingly a cybersecurity issue as much as it is a physical security issue,” said Scott Glenn, vice president of asset protection at The Home Depot. “If criminals gain access to transportation or logistics systems, they can potentially identify what is being shipped, where it is going and when it will be there. That intelligence can turn a shipment into a very specific target. As criminal organizations become more sophisticated, companies have to think about protecting the data surrounding a shipment just as seriously as they protect the shipment itself.”
The Need for Real-time Visibility and Intelligence
The severity of cargo theft’s threat is being taken seriously. 70% say their organizations are investing more this year in cargo theft prevention compared to last year.
Overall, the capabilities respondents believe will make the biggest difference in fighting cargo theft include real-time location visibility and data that can be used to identify recurring theft patterns or high-risk routes.
Technology, however, is only one part of the solution. Successfully combatting cargo theft also requires faster coordination and response when incidents occur. Just 37% of respondents say they regularly report incidents and work directly with law enforcement on investigations. Since many thefts go unreported, the true scale of the problem is likely larger than current figures suggest.
Real-Time Monitoring
“The companies making the most progress are moving from visibility to actionability,” Yehiav said. “Real-time monitoring and faster alerts help teams respond to route deviations, unauthorized stops and other warning signs while there’s still time to intervene, protecting not only the shipment, but also revenue, customer trust and overall supply chain resilience. For losses that can’t be prevented, it also provides more data for fueling cooperation with law enforcement.”
To read the full findings from the SmartSense Cargo Theft Report, which provides further data and insights on the above topics, as well as insights unique to third-party transportation, click here.
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.
