Cargo Theft: Watch For The Pilferers

The image of tough guys hijacking truckloads of goods is a familiar one to fans of gangster movies. While trucks are the victims of most cargo thefts globally—75% of them, according to one report—these incidents increasingly do not involve the theft of the entire tractor-trailer. Instead, cargo theft is increasingly characterized by pilfering: lifting a few boxes or a few pallets of products while a truck is parked at a stop. This tactic makes the job much easier for thieves, on several levels—they don’t have to hide the truck, for example—while making things more difficult for carriers, cargo owners, and law enforcement. Even when thieves purloin an entire truckload, they are more likely to employ some scheme or scam to take possession of ill-gotten freight than to strong-arm a driver to give up his load. Technology has been deployed in an effort to counter rising cargo theft rates, but thieves have countered with their own technology.