Industry insider says cargo theft has reached ‘unprecedented levels’

Instances of cargo theft continue to rise, with industry insiders saying it’s a trend that isn’t likely to slow any time soon.

In the third quarter of 2023, there were a total of 692 theft events recorded in the United States and Canada, according to CargoNet’s recently released 2023 Third Quarter Supply Chain Risk Trends Analysis. That number marks a 59% increase compared to the third quarter of 2022.

“As we enter the final quarter of 2023, there is no indication that cargo theft activity will slow in the domestic United States,” CargoNet said in a statement. “We anticipate that strategic cargo theft will remain at unprecedented levels of activity throughout the quarter.”

The company said the majority of the increase can be attributed to “ongoing shipment misdirection attacks” – a type of theft in which thieves use stolen carrier and broker identities to “obtain freight and misdirect it from the intended receiver so they could steal it.”

In total, thieves stole over $31.1 million in shipments in the third quarter of 2023. California, Texas and Illinois were the top three states in terms of theft events. Those states accounted for 49% of all reported cargo theft in the third quarter of 2023.

CargoNet said that while these cargo theft trends should make all in the industry take notice, there is one group in particular that appears to be targeted more than others.

“Strategic cargo theft groups have shown keen interest in perpetrating fraud against small motor carriers or owner-operators with intent of hijacking their accounts or convincing them to solicit shipments from logistics brokers on their behalf,” the company said. “Both strategies seek to evade identity theft checks a logistics broker may do prior to tendering a shipment.”

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association recently warned truckers about one such scam.

In July, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration began requiring that carriers completing a manual MCS-150 update also submit a copy of their commercial driver’s license to confirm them as the owner of the DOT number.

While the practice makes sense on the surface, it also presented an opportunity for scammers.

Posing as legitimate brokers on load boards, crooks would request a copy of a carrier’s CDL prior to accepting the load. The scammer then would use the copy of the CDL to change the carrier’s MCS-150 information, hijacking the DOT number.

Once scammers have this control, it opens the door to the possibility of booking fraudulent loads or double-brokering under that DOT number – leaving carriers to deal with the liability.

This issue highlights the importance of owner-operators doing their due diligence when it comes to verifying a broker.

To assist small-business truckers, the OOIDA Foundation has put together a series of short instructional videos about dealing with brokers. The Foundation’s video on due diligence can help drivers avoid falling victim to this kind of scheme. LL