FreightWatch International actively tracks and records cargo theft activity around the globe. This week I came across their publication “Supply Chain Intelligence Center: Cargo Theft USA – 2013.” In addition to quite a bit of free content provided from the Intelligence Center portion of their web site, FreightWatch provides active cargo monitoring and supply chain visibility solutions.

There is some good news in the numbers, despite the fact that FreightWatch puts the US at a four – a high risk nation – on a five point scale. The number of incidents has not increased over that recorded in 2012. Violent theft in the form of hijackings remains rare, making up 1.3 percent of all thefts in 2013. “Cargo thieves in the United States largely tend to pursue loaded trailers and containers that are stationary and unattended, and in 2013 a whopping 73 percent of all thefts fell into this category.”

Further good news is that the average loss value per theft has dropped from over $550,000 in 2009 to about $170,000 in 2013. Finally, one of the fastest growing methods of theft over the last several years, deceptive pickup, dropped slightly in 2013 and now represents 6.4 percent of theft incidents.

But what exactly is deceptive pickup? Sam Rizzitelli, National Director for Transportation Inland Marine at Travelers Insurance, and Scott Cornell, National Director of Travelers Investigative Services Specialty Investigations Group explained this to me. Deceptive theft is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” form of theft practiced by gangs of between 6 and 30 members. The thieves pose as a legitimate trucking company and go onto load board web sites and bid on the loads.  A shipper thinks they are getting a good rate, books an appointment, and then a gang member drives a truck up to a shippers’ warehouse, loads up the cargo, and drives off with their goods.

Another fictitious pickup scenario involves getting information about the scheduled loads to be picked up either through inside information or potentially through cyber tactics. This may allow them to show up at 11 am for a pickup scheduled for 3 pm that day, and then talk the dock manager into loading them early.

But deception is not limited to pickups. Another gang scenario is to have the driver damage the engine. The driver then drops the load at an unsupervised location, like a rest stop, and the cab limps into the repair center.  While the cab is getting repaired, the gang hooks up the trailer and drives away. Meanwhile, the driver gets a repair slip and the theft appears to be the work of outsiders.

We also talked about the bad winter we have been having. Winter storms can cause a surge in thefts.  Winter storms can lead to a route being blocked and the need to put goods in temporary storage at a point in time not originally planned for. Then once the route opens up, a warehouse may have a surge of activity they can’t handle and many trucks are forced to sit at truck stops waiting their turn. “Cargo at rest is cargo at risk. Thieves prey on disruption.” Indeed, gangs pay attention to the weather and are willing to fly from their home base to any part of the country that offers an opportunity.

Travelers, like FreightWatch, offers theft prevention services. They have a dedicated cargo theft unit that catches bad guys and recovers stolen loads. They also offer training services. Their next training event will be in Irvine, California on April 16^th.