Cargo Theft: Rising Risk: Part 1
By Advance Business Capital 

We’re all familiar with the western cliché of owl hoots ambushing a stagecoach, shooting the lock off the strongbox and riding off with the loot. As corny as the image is, road theft still is a regular peril of cargo hauling. The main change is that modern crooks typically hijack the entire stagecoach.

According to Austin-based Freighwatch International, a supply-chain security firm, thieves stole 860 truckloads of goods in 2009, up from 765 in 2008 and 670 in 2007, an increase of nearly 100 and 200 loads respectively. That’s a hefty hike but it’s nothing compared to the jump in dollar value, up to $487 million from $290 million, a 67% increase!

The New Wave 
For 2010, the trend in road theft is, if anything, escalating. For instance, during just a five-day period this February, an 18-wheeler carrying 710 cartons of consumer electronics was stolen from a Pennsylvania rest stop, a 53-foot-long rig packed with 43,000 pounds of paper was ripped off in Ottawa, Ill., and a 40-foot-long truck filled with reclining armchairs went missing in Atlanta.

The latest wave of thefts is different from a run of tractor-trailer hijackings that occurred in the 1960s, when organized-crime rings forced drivers out at gunpoint and took their trucks. According to industry officials and police, the current thefts are generally nonviolent and typically happen at rest stops when the driver is away from his truck.

Criminals often know what they’re stealing because they target trucks by following them from a plant or distribution center. They "sit and wait and watch, and when the driver goes in to eat or take a shower, that's when they hit," said Special Agent John Cannon, head of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's cargo-theft squad, which the state launched in 2009 to deal with the growing hijacking problem.

Economy Down, Robbery Up 
Although strong-arm assaults are not common, they aren’t unknown either. Last October, as truck driver Richard Miller curled up to sleep in his cab after a cross-country trip to Indianapolis, two ski-masked men tossed him out of his rig, beat him up and drove off with his trailer full of $300,000 worth of scotch and rum. Earlier in the year, 26-year-old trucker Jason Rivenberg was killed by hijackers as he napped in his truck at a service station (prompting the proposed “Jason’s Law” legislation that would provide federal incentives for states to partner to create secure rest stops). 

Stolen trailers are typically found only a few hours from the theft scene, empty and abandoned, sometimes sloppily repainted to foil quick identification. While organized-crime rings may be involved, "We are seeing a lot more amateurs get into this," said Sgt. Sid Belk, of the California Highway Patrol. Last year cargo bandits made off with $29 million of goods in Southern California. In the opinion of Georgia investigator Cannon, thefts of consumer goods in particular are directly related to the troubled economy. “People are stealing things that they can get rid of quickly, and consumers are looking for a deal."

Everyone’s Problem 
The problem is real and growing. It troubles the trucking industry, which worries about its drivers. It troubles shippers, who foresee a rise in their cargo insurance. It troubles law enforcement, which sees an upward trend in interstate crime. What can be done? What’s being done? We’ll examine that in the second part of our report.

This story was drawn from articles in the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Sun-Times, DCVelocity.com and the Jason's Law website.

This article is provided as a service for truckers and everyone in the trucking industry by Advance Business Capital. ABC is the first and only factoring service designed by truckers for truckers. We provide innovative financial solutions exclusively to For-Hire truckers and Freight Brokers and are proud to be the first factoring company to receive the P3 (Preferred Platinum Provider) endorsement from the Transportation Intermediaries Association. www.advancebcap.com