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This submit is a part of a collection sponsored by IAT Insurance Group.
Cargo theft stays a outstanding risk to the transportation trade. In one high-profile case in 2022, three Florida males stole roughly $9 million price of beef and pork from refrigerated vehicles that had left meatpacking crops within the Midwest and Great Plains over the course of a yr.
In the second half of 2022, experiences of cargo theft and fraud rose 27% year-over-year.[1] Parking heaps and truck stops are the most typical location for cargo theft incidents however secured yards usually are not immune from cargo theft.1 Although family items and meals merchandise stay frequent targets, higher-value items, reminiscent of autos, electronics and prescribed drugs are also steadily focused.[2]
The 4 most typical cargo theft situations embody:
- Red zones: Areas with ports and main interstate junctions proceed to be hotspots for criminals, together with California, Texas, Georgia, Florida and Illinois.1
- Hijacking: Criminals are getting bolder, taking alternatives to steal cargo and even hijacking gear at truck stops, relaxation areas and gas islands when drivers are refueling, utilizing the services and whereas taking an hours of service (HOS) break.
- Inside jobs: An worker with detailed information of the cargo together with the origin and vacation spot factors is aware of when and the place a high-value cargo could also be weak and have tipped off an outsider on these particulars to be able to facilitate a theft.
- Organized crime: Organized teams of criminals have refined techniques in place to perform cargo heists, as demonstrated within the beef and pork heists talked about above.
7 finest practices to guard your hundreds
As cargo theft continues to develop and evolve, firms can implement defensive measures to mitigate losses, together with the next:
- Use GPS monitoring for energy models and trailers. Portable monitoring gadgets will help find a stolen car or lacking trailer. However, this isn’t an all-encompassing answer, as they are often disabled in varied methods or the sign could be blocked
- Implement cargo monitoring. Dedicated cargo trackers could be included with load contents, providing an opportunity to trace stolen merchandise wherever they go. Shipments of high-value attire or pharmaceutical objects, for instance, could use these, that are extra dependable than their GPS cousins as a result of they use cellphone expertise. They are additionally extra expensive. Costs could be minimized by including trackers to a choose variety of merchandise (not all of them), as criminals usually steal in batches. Use sufficient trackers in merchandise that not less than one tracker will probably be taken in a batch of stolen product.
- Put skilled drivers in your higher-value hundreds. Use trusted drivers, those that have hauled a wide range of hundreds together with excessive worth hundreds, and those that perceive the procedures taken to maintain their cargo, gear and most significantly, themselves away from hurt. Work as a group with the driving force previous to loading, reminding them of the additional procedures that needs to be taken on a lot of these hundreds.
- Plan your routes. Remind drivers to keep away from crimson zones and excessive crime-rate areas, significantly when stopping or parking. Drivers ought to have a minimal of 200 miles price of gas and sufficient hours of service to journey that distance earlier than choosing up a load. This will help to cut back stops and thieves could develop into disenchanted with the cargo because it will get previous their goal zone.
- Train your drivers. Ensure drivers know that vehicles and trailers needs to be locked and sealed, and that they need to determine secure, well-lit parking areas earlier than leaving the car. Additional measures embody positioning the trailer to a construction to stop the doorways from being opened. Watch for autos following the truck and don’t talk about the cargo with others both — on the cellphone or over the CB radio.
- Employ good hiring practices and leverage background checks. Good hiring practices ought to prolong to dispatchers, hundreds planners, warehouse and dock employees, not simply drivers. Note that warehouse employees don’t must know the routes drivers take to achieve their vacation spot, which might additional shield a load from potential theft.
- Purchase enough cargo protection. Companies ought to decide if they’ve the correct quantity of cargo insurance coverage, particularly as the price of items rise. Work together with your insurance coverage agent to treatment gaps, and think about using a cargo rider for particular, high-value hundreds. Adjust your protection as enterprise scales up or winds down, or your product combine adjustments.
Only a small proportion of cargo thieves are caught and prosecuted. And solely a small proportion of stolen cargo is ever recovered. Many legislation enforcement groups do not need the manpower to dedicate to a lot of these circumstances over higher-profile crimes. Taking steps to make hundreds much less enticing and harder to steal, will help to cut back cargo theft.
For extra data on defending in opposition to the specter of cargo theft, contact IAT.
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[1] Verisk “Winter Holiday Cargo Theft Trends and Security Best Practices 2022,” December 16, 2022.
[2] Business Insurance “Cargo losses escalate as thieves target cars, electronics,” May 31, 2022.
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