CINCINNATI — Bombarded with rising costs and shorted product stock, the U.S. supply chain has been hindered by yet another ongoing problem, according to Cincinnati-based Total Quality Logistics: a rise in cargo theft crimes.
Cargo theft activity reached "unprecedented levels" in 2024, according to CargoNet, which reported 3,625 such incidents last year, a 27% jump in crime from 2023.
"Each quarter of 2024 surpassed previous records set in 2023," a CargoNet release stated. "The data suggests an evolving and increasingly sophisticated threat landscape in cargo theft, with criminal enterprises demonstrating tactical adaptability in both their methods and target selection."
"Cargo theft is very common. It is happening every day. It's happening all around you," said Zak Bowyer, TQL Vice President of Sales Support Operations.
On Feb. 1, in neighboring Pennsylvania, 100,000 organic eggs worth upwards of $40,000 were stolen from the back of a trailer in the city of Greencastle. The investigation is currently ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Pennsylvania State Police Chambersburg.
"You're talking about pretty massive food waste, but also a disruption in that supply chain," Bowyer said, speaking generally on thefts targeting food and beverage freight. "That's going to impact their bottom line which could change pricing structures for consumers."
WATCH: How Total Quality Logistics is expanding its work to curb cargo theft in 2025
What was once typically a crime of opportunity, Bowyer said, has transformed into a sophisticated, organized operation.
"The bad guys will impersonate a legitimate trucking company and try to infiltrate a freight broker system," he said. "The technology is getting better very quickly, but the criminals are also evolving very quickly. We expect it to be, still, quite the onslaught this year, but it's a fight we're up for."
For about the last decade, TQL has had its cargo security and appliance team in place. Since 2020, the size of the team has more than quadrupled, according to Bowyer, who oversees it.
"Their job is to ensure that the carriers that are approved inside our network are not bad actors," he said. "We're constantly evaluating hundreds of thousands of carriers in our system—whether or not we think one of those carriers, their identity, their profile, may have been co-opted by a bad actor that wants to gain access to our customers' freight and steal that freight."
If any suspicious activity arises, the TQL team reports it to the FBI.
"We work directly with all law enforcement agencies as a private industry," Bowyer said.
The forecast for 2025 is similar to that of 2024, according to CargoNet, "...with organized criminal enterprises expected to maintain their aggressive targeting of supply chain vulnerabilities."
