JERSEY CITY, N.J. - In second-quarter 2017, CargoNet® logged 296 incidents of cargo theft, trucking vehicle theft, fraud, and other supply chain intelligence into the CargoNet system. Almost half of the incidents involved theft of cargo, 58% of the incidents involved theft of a trucking vehicle such as a tractor or semi-trailer, and 9% of the incidents were classified as fraud—often involving identity theft, wire fraud, and sometimes cargo theft.
California reported the most cargo theft events for Q2 2017, but cargo theft reports were down 53% when compared with Q2 2016. Texas followed California, but again, cargo crime reports in the state were down 51% year over year. In total, $17.2 million in cargo was stolen from the United States and Canada in Q2 2017, down from $35.1 million in Q2 2016. (We do note that there were 79 more cargo theft reports in Q2 2016.) The average value of each cargo theft event in Q2 2017 was $202,774.
Food and beverage products were the most stolen commodity, but only by a slight margin; and household thefts were quite close. A bulk of the household thefts recorded by CargoNet were major appliances. Other major targets were household cleaning supplies, tools, and mixed household goods.
Warehouses were the most common location for cargo theft in Q2 2017, but losses in the category dropped 54% compared with Q2 2016. Unsecured truck yards followed warehouses, with 22 cargo thefts in Q2 2017.
In Q2 2017, 110 tractors and 109 trailers were stolen across the United States and Canada. Thefts of tractors were down 17%, and thefts of trailers were down 29% when compared with Q2 2016. Thefts of intermodal chassis and containers increased slightly from 21 stolen units to 25 stolen units year over year.
Both cargo theft and trucking vehicle theft shrank compared with Q2 2016, but we caution transportation professionals to stay guarded because crime will likely increase again.
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