Complex cargo thefts are fooling supply chains, and the problem is becoming increasingly sophisticated, American Trucking Associations SVP and Chief Economist Bob Costello noted at a 2025 Management Conference & Exhibition panel in October.
International crime rings are stealing freight in the U.S., Costello said, and people in these organizations understand the industry enough to convince drivers to divert freight to different dropoff sites — even when a driver suspects something is amiss.
At his MCE address, ATA President and CEO Chris Spear said transnational criminal organization “attack our companies and identify the most high-value freight available, delivering it to dummy drop sites and making it nearly impossible to track.”
In June, the nonprofit National Insurance Crime Bureau estimated that cargo thefts will increase 22% this year, up from historic highs.
A bombshell report from the American Transportation Research Institute last month found that cargo theft may have dealt an estimated financial blow of between $1.8 billion to $6.6 billion in direct and indirect costs in 2023.
Strategic thefts, defined by the ATRI report as planned or targeted attacks, are standing out, according to Cheryl Garcia, SVP of government transportation at U.S. Bank, who spoke alongside Costello for the panel “Strategic Perspectives for Carriers in Uncertain Times.” Such cargo thefts increased from less than 9% of incidents in 2022 to 25% in 2023, per ATRI.
The organizational structure of certain criminal networks can mean that even when a cargo theft issue is addressed, it still continues. Fellow panelist Amy Horn, a director of intermodal pricing at J.B. Hunt Transport Services, said her company has caught people in a crime, only for them to post bail and repeat a crime within 24 hours.
Additionally, criminals are diverting freight through cyber-enabled schemes more than any other strategic theft method, the National Motor Freight Traffic Association noted last month in feedback to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Hijackers can create lookalike website addresses of legitimate load boards, pretend to be load board representatives and manipulate unsecured or outdated telematics systems to reroute shipments, the NMFTA noted in its comments and a theft prevention guide.
“Cyber-enabled cargo theft is a dynamic and complex threat, but it is not insurmountable,” the NMFTA’s guide said. “[T]hreat actors will continue to adapt with new tactics, from phishing schemes and ransomware to identity theft and insider collusion.”
But transportation businesses can significantly reduce their risk exposure, the NMFTA said.
Earlier this year, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Florida arrested four individuals after detectives found a pattern of thefts with electronic control modules of Freightliners at short-term storage lots, law enforcement said.
"There’s a strong secondary market for ECMs," Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said at a news conference in July, noting the devices can sell from $3,000 to $10,000 a piece. “They would take them and sell them to a broker in Texas, who would wipe them clean.”
The organized crime ring responsible caused $776,000 in losses, officials said.
