New Tactics and Sophistication Make Cargo Thieves Harder to Catch

The recent spate of nut thefts in California, along with a rise in cargo theft activity in and around the city of Dallas, TX, are but two indicators of new trends taking shape among freight thieves, according to industry experts.

The first highlights the greater focus cargo thieves are placing on food and beverage freight shipments; a top target for theft since 2010, according to Scott Cornell, transportation business leader and crime/theft specialist for Travelers insurance.

It’s logical that theft syndicates are going to evolve their tactics. Their newly sophisticated reconnaissance is evidence of that. Dual-mode tracking devices and a multitude of peripheral sensors can factor greatly in the effective monitoring of freight loads.

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“Why target food and beverage? Because there are no serial numbers on pistachios, for example; there is no RFID tag attached to them or hidden in their packaging,” he explained to Fleet Owner.

“Why target food and beverage?” asks Scott Cornell, transportation business leader and crime/theft specialist for Travelers Insurance. “Because there are no serial numbers on pistachios, for example.  There is no RFID tag attached to them or hidden in their packaging.” “There’s no tracing of almonds over the internet. There’s often not a high enough ‘trigger point’ in terms of value to meet some companies’ requirements for heightened security protocols,” Cornell added.

It’s incumbent upon technology providers, both GPS tracking and otherwise, to continue to innovate. As LTE becomes more widely adopted, live video streaming should also become more cost-effective in mainstream security-related M2M applications. The growing introduction of IoT-related products will help fuel the growth of security-driven data collection and flow.

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