The new highway robbery
Cargo theft is surging, thieves are getting smarter, and the stakes for truckers have never been higher. In fact, a single act of cargo theft could cost some small-business truckers their livelihood.
The issue of freight theft has seen historic heights over the past few years, with multiple industry insiders reporting record-breaking levels of theft quarter after quarter. The problem isn’t slowing down, with the National Insurance Crime Bureau anticipating a 22% increase in cargo theft losses for 2025 over the previous year.
The problem has grown to proportions that are finally garnering the attention of federal lawmakers. Introduced in April, the Combatting Organized Retail Crime Act aims to reduce cargo crime by strengthening legal tools for law enforcement to pursue and prosecute cargo thieves.
The proposed legislation would also mandate the creation of the Organized Retail and Supply Chain Crime Coordination Center within Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of Homeland Security – providing much-needed collaboration between federal and local agencies investigating cargo crimes.
The bill has gained plenty of traction since its introduction. As of press time, the proposal had 177 co-sponsors from 41 states.
As lawmakers work to reduce freight crime, government agencies are turning to those in the industry to get a better grasp on the scope of the issue. In September, the U.S. Department of Transportation published a request for information asking stakeholders how to best protect the supply chain from cargo theft.
In its request, the department asked for feedback on a number of factors including significant risks for theft and best practices or technologies being employed to reduce theft risks.
OOIDA’s comments
On Monday, Oct. 20, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association submitted comments in response to the DOT’s request.
In its comments, the Association noted several contributing factors to the recent rise in theft, including increased fraud risk, the use of advanced technology by bad actors, and lack of federal oversight.
While a recent report published by the American Transportation Research Institute estimates that cargo theft could cost the trucking industry as much as $6.6 billion annually, OOIDA said that the trucking industry isn’t alone in feeling the impacts of cargo theft.
“The full impact on our economy and the American people is difficult to assess because the financial losses extend beyond the cost of stolen goods,” the Association said in comments signed by President Todd Spencer. “Undoubtedly, this contributes to higher consumer prices, as shippers and receivers look to recoup their losses with remaining products.”
The DOT asked respondents to rank the challenge posed by cargo theft to the industry on a scale of 1 to 5. The association ranked it a five – a “very serious” challenge according to the department’s scale.
In response to the department’s question regarding “most significant” cargo theft risks, the Association pointed to double-brokering and theft of a carrier’s identity as two of the main culprits – noting that most small-business truckers acquire loads from brokers on load boards.
“As shippers have become less likely to work directly with small carriers, reliance on load boards has increased dramatically over the years among owner-operators,” OOIDA said. “Unfortunately, these platforms have simultaneously become fertile ground for nefarious actors.”
The Association said that “very little” is being done to address fraudulent brokers, adding that the lack of oversight has “created an environment where fraudulent actors can thrive with little fear of being caught or punished for their crimes.”
The impact of this type of sophisticated cargo theft can be detrimental to small trucking businesses, according to OOIDA, which they said are “both the most vulnerable to fraud and the least likely to be able to recover from an incident.”
For small-business truckers, margins are razor-thin, with little room for error. The Association said that several of its members had lost their entire business after a single case of freight fraud.
“While large carriers are better equipped to absorb the cost of fraud, it only takes a single occurrence to ruin a small trucking business,” Spencer wrote.
Recommendations
Among the recommendations from the Association to the U.S. DOT was the need to establish a federal repository for reporting theft and fraud incidents. According to OOIDA, this could help to improve communication between federal agencies, law enforcement jurisdictions and industry stakeholders.
“A centralized database could help ensure proper response from enforcement personnel and serve as an outlet to better accurately monitor cargo theft incidents,” the Association said. “A potential streamlined reporting system must be sufficiently resourced so there is proper response level for reviewing theft cases and pursuing bad actors.”
Currently, the only centralized system to report freight fraud is the National Consumer Complaint Database, which the Association called an “ineffective tool for motor carriers.”
OOIDA argues that the “lack of response historically” from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to reports has discouraged some truckers from using the database, which in turn “contributes to a lack of understanding of the scope of the problem within the agency.”
The group said it hopes that recent updates to the database will help to make it a “viable resource” to truckers.
Another suggestion from OOIDA to the department was the advancement of pending regulations that would strengthen broker transparency. That potential rule seems to be in a holding pattern, for now, with the most recent regulatory agenda indicating that the agency plans to issue a second notice of proposed rulemaking in May 2026.
The Association also suggested increasing truck parking, as well as strengthening the screening process and raising the bar for new entrants, as possible solutions to the cargo theft problem. LL