Load theft shoots until a record in 2024

The load theft reached a record level in the United States and Canada for the second consecutive year, and the trend is expected to continue as criminal companies have become more sophisticated in their methods.

The annual Verisk Cargonet analysis published this week found that load theft increased by 27% between 2023 and 2024, reaching a record of 3,625 incidents reported last year with an average value of $ 202,364 per robbery. In total, losses are estimated at more than 454 million dollars.

The load theft reached a record in the US. In 2024 according to Cargonet, which expects the trend to continue. (Cargonet/Foxbusiness)

The study found that California and Texas experienced the greatest increase in the robbery activity, with a 33% increase in the golden state and a surprising 39% in the state of the lonely star.

The theft of towing and the theft of complete towing continued at high levels, particularly in the main metropolitan areas, including Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta and the city of New York, according to the findings. Dallas County, Texas, led with a 78% increase in reported incidents. Los Angeles California County, traditionally a high -activity area, experienced an increase of 50%.

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Cargonet also reported notable changes in the type of stolen goods last year. Although in 2023 there were frequent robberies of motor oils, fluids, solar energy products and energy drinks, 2024 marked a strategic turn by criminal companies. The new objectives included raw and finished copper products, consumer electronics and cryptocurrency mining hardware.

The load theft reached another record in 2024. (Istock / Istock)

The analysis also revealed a greater orientation to specific consumer goods, including products such as avocados and nuts, together with personal care products that range from cosmetics to vitamins and supplements, especially powdered protein.

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Cargonet vice president Keith Lewis explained in an interview that there are two main types of load theft: the first is the traditional method in which thieves steal directly from one truck or train, and the other method is fraud, which Often it implies manipulating online shipping exchanges. To redirect entire charges using false information such as false companies.

He said that cargo theft, often made by criminal companies abroad, has increased by an amazing 1.445%, while traditional theft has increased around 20%. Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, he explained, the theft of load in general has increased around 90%.

A freighter and tugboat navigate through Cocoli’s locks in the Panama Canal, in Panama, on August 12, 2024. Lewis says that an increasing method of loading theft implies that criminals redirect shipments by fraud. (Arnulfo Franco/AFP via getty images/getty images)

Lewis, a former state police officer, says that federal authorities do not have the resources to adequately address the problem, so the burden of solving it falls to the logistics industry to find solutions.

“But the solutions cost money, and that is the setback,” he told Fox Business. “And also, when the way we transport the load is changed, the supply chain slows down. And when the supply chain slows down, that could possibly paralyze the infrastructure. It also generates a higher cost of transport of goods.”

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Meanwhile, the increase in robberies is contributing to prices rising for everyone.

“Everyone is paying for this now,” Lewis said. “The rates rise, the insurance rises, the costs rise, the freight rates, which I charge to the carrier goes up. The carrier takes that and returns it at its cost, and they raise the price, and you pay it every time that we make a purchase. “