The Swiped Stuff, Part II

Straight From the Source

Theft of our consumer goods has skyrocketed. From baby formula and electronics to crayons and instant coffee, retail stores are putting high-demand merchandise and everyday items alike under lock and key in the store aisles.

And before that merchandise even reaches the aisles…well, sometimes they don’t even reach the store.

That’s because the level of cargo theft is high. From our friends at Transport Topics:

“CargoNet” ⏤ an organization focused on theft prevention and recovery ⏤ “reported that criminal activities impacting the logistics and transportation industry increased 46% year-over-year to 925 incidents and 10% from the fourth quarter of 2023. The report estimates that $154.6 million worth of goods was stolen during that period.”

Sometimes it’s outright theft: from a dock, from the back of the truck. Warehouses can be notoriously busy environments; it’s easy to literally get lost in the shuffle. Now there’s a new wrinkle to things: document forgery.

Picture the bad guy posing as a commercial truck driver. He picks up a load and drives it to the destination. He begins unloading. So far, so good. It’s just like any legitimate load, yes? No: he’s unloaded only a bit of the inventory. He’s altered, fudged, and otherwise forged the bill of lading. For all appearances, everybody assumes everything is good. But it’s too late. The thief is gone.

It’s a nightmarish version of the snarky comment: “Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you still have their shoes.”

States with the largest spikes in these thefts: California, Illinois, and Texas.

Most swiped inventory: small appliances, booze, energy drinks, and copper.

What does this mean for the industry? Think insurance rates, security expenses, trust, communication. More on that next time.