With an exponential rise in cargo theft in 2024 and 2025, the trucking industry in North America has reached a critical point. The staggering number of thefts and unprecedented interference has threatened the safety of employees and crippled companies’ general operations, financial security, and brand reputations. Effectively dismantling the criminal networks behind the chaos requires, a multi-level strategic approach that addresses immediate emergencies as well as long-term issues.
Current data reported in FreightWaves reflects a nearly 30% increase of cargo theft incidences over the previous year with losses of nearly $500 million. Many companies do not report the damages, and the actual amount could be much higher. The American Trucking Association reports that “thieves targeting freight shipments cost the American economy up to $35 billion per year.” In June 2025, FreightWaves also reported that the average heist sets a company back about $202,000. Also of note, there are hotspots in certain areas of North America with California and Texas reporting the most cases. Within those states, some counties such as Dallas County and Los Angeles County saw spikes of 78% and 50% respectively. However, cargo theft occurs throughout North America.
According to research by Logistydispatch.com and published in the article, “Cargo Theft on the Rise: How the Trucking Industry Can Respond?” thieves fence a wide variety of products. The goods most frequently targeted goods by criminal rings are pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, and electronic. The methods employed by the crime syndicates driving the thefts have become increasingly sophisticated and fool most within the transportation industry. Adept at infiltrating companies, the perpetrators secure employment or create a connection with a contact inside the company to gain access to critical data. By strategically forging documents, securing stolen identification, and using GPS jamming and other technology, the criminals successfully steal from warehouses, parking lots, truck stops and container yards.
Recent data reported by SupplyChainDigest.com provides an interesting snapshot of preferences among cargo thieves in the United States. The article “US Cargo Thefts Rise Modestly in Q2” provides an update about theft activity, listing the days and hours in which most of the incidences occur. According to their research, supply chain criminals are hard at it, especially on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The transactions occur during early morning hours and most of the daytime. Recent data from Trailer Transit, Inc. mentions that activity increases “during weekends, holidays and especially during shipper-to-yard transfers, most likely because security may be laxer during these times.
The cascade of disruption created by ceaseless cargo thefts includes interruption of regular workflows, diversion of resources, lack of supplier trust, increase in insurance premiums, burn out among employees, and ultimately, higher prices for the everyday consumer. Safeguarding cargo requires a multi-level approach that addresses both the physical security, as well as the data security related to tracking the goods. Working with experts within the industry to tackle every level for a bullet proof solution requires evolving security plans and readily sharing information among agencies.
Industry experts recommend that a revamp of company security protocols should include modern technology to track hotspots in high-risk corridors, including GPS, live video cameras that feed into integrated systems, drones, and tamper reporting seals. Many are available in scalable and flexible packages for small and medium sized businesses, and larger corporations.
Limiting access to warehouses and storage yards, heightening security at transfer junctions, and consistently requiring security credentials and proper documentation are imperative. Looking for and addressing vulnerable points within a logistics company are essential, as is requiring robust verification processes for all employees, especially those that interface with drivers and carriers. Companies should also thoroughly vet third-party logistics providers and routinely monitor their activity.
Ongoing staff training should be required for all logistics personnel including drivers, dispatchers and support staff so that they easily recognize suspicious activity and know when and where to report it. Company security teams can engage with the local, state and federal agencies to share information with cargo crime task forces. Sharing, rather than sitting on data, that could help intercept an international crime network requires forward-thinking cooperation.
Successful security in the North American supply chain entails: actively staying on top of trends and patterns among theft rings, due diligence in addressing imminent crises, as well as using dynamic security protocols to address ongoing issues. Most importantly, companies must remain ahead of the technological curve by effectively integrating devices into routine business operations.
Numerous companies claim to have the answer to the present supply chain challenges. It is important to distinguish between those that sell new IT tools and those that actually have established experience in a wide variety of industries facing diverse issues. Gravick Group, LLC is a veteran-owned, privately held company that offers supply chain risk mitigation consulting and training programs. With an understanding that visibility is the key, Gravick Group fuses expert knowledge, well tested processes, and the latest technology to arm your supply chain against constantly evolving threats.
Gravick Group’s unique edge is its scalable teams and their ability to meld pioneering technology with sound processes to interrupt supply chain threats. The construction of each team is based upon current and emerging issues, and is anchored by experts in information technology, business operations, data research, strategic analysis, customs and border protection, compliance, international trade, and business.
Every Gravick team member understands that it is not just new technology that makes the difference, the game changer is in the client shifting toward fully integrating a new approach into daily operations. While unconventional, Gravick Group knows that the most effective results in supply chain security solutions lay within the employees’ commitment to a new approach — and this is where the trajectory shifts toward better outcomes.
After an extensive assessment and consultation with the entire network from C-level leadership to the field staff, Gravick Group collaboratively develops and implements a customized, forward-looking supply chain security plan. Gravick’s experts then work side by side with leadership and teams in the field to seamlessly integrate enhanced processes with client workflows, ultimately setting conditions for data driven responses to future threats.
For a more detailed consultation, contact us at info@gravick.com.
Citations:
Admin. (2025, August 29). Essential strategies to combat cargo theft and protect your assets. Logity Dispatch. https://logitydispatch.com/blog/cargo-theft-on-the-rise-how-the-trucking-industry-can-respond/
Elisabeth A. Wilson is risk manager at Atlantic Union Bank. (n.d.). Risk Management Magazine – looming threats to operational resilience for Financial Institutions. Magazine. https://www.rmmagazine.com/articles/article/2021/10/25/looming-threats-to-operational-resilience-for-financial-institutions
Freight under fire: The explosive rise of cargo theft. American Trucking Associations. (n.d.). https://www.trucking.org/news-insights/freight-under-fire-explosive-rise-cargo-theft
How tech is stopping cargo theft in the supply chain. Trackonomy. (2025, August 13). https://trackonomy.ai/blog/technology-preventing-cargo-theft
Orc and cargo theft and the urgent need for stronger laws. Retail Industry Leaders Association. (n.d.). https://www.rila.org/blog/2025/05/organized-retail-crime-and-cargo-theft-and-the-urg
Showen, J. (2025, August 5). Freight recession and cargo theft impact on Logistics. ECAM. https://ecam.com/security-blog/freight-recession-and-cargo-theft
Staff, F. (2025, June 29). Trucking Industry Crime Surge: 50 high-stakes incidents. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/the-escalating-crisis-of-crime-in-the-trucking-industry-50-high-value-incidents-violent-trends-and-causes
Syed M. Zubair Bokhari – XDIMENSION SOLUTIONS. (n.d.). Catagory: Supply chain trends and issues. US Cargo Thefts Rise Modestly in Q2. https://www.scdigest.com/ontarget/25-08-20_cargo_theft_q2_2025.php
US Cargo Theft Report. Overhaul. (2025, August 11). https://over-haul.com/us-cargo-theft-report/