Heists Targeting Truckers On Rise
Thieves are swiping tractor-trailers filled with goods, triggering a spike in cargo theft on the nation’s highways.
Over five days last month, 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.
Truckloads containing $487 million of goods were stolen in the U.S. in 2009, a 67% increase over the $290 million worth of products swiped a year earlier. Thieves stole 859 truckloads in 2009, up from 767 loads in 2008 and 672 in 2007, according to FreightWatch International, an Austin, Texas-based supply-chain security firm that maintains a database of thefts that several government agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, look to for trends.
Signs of the times. I spent a year swinging freight at a terminal for a trucking company and some trailers were just useless crap, some were with huge bucks (cigarettes were several thousand dollars per case and we’d get a hundred cases at a time), and some were just a mix. Sometimes we even got pallet loads of bullets and ammo from Speer and Hornady. I remember moving 55 gallon drums full of bullets, weighing them on my forklift, doing the math, and thinking “Wow, theres 125,000 bullets there”.
No surprise that if someone who knows how to hook/unhook a trailer and can drive a truck might find easy pickin’s…esp. in this economy when youc an probably flip the contents of the truck pretty easily what with everyone looking for a bargain. I suppose the very savvy criminals with an eye on the long term would steal stuff they know they can use and keep.
I suppose its not too far a stretch until we see similar things happening to rail freight. A train sits in a yard overnight and the next day all the choice freight is missing. A bit harder in a secured yard, but out here you sometimes see trains just sit overnight on the rails in the middle of nowhere.
Not sure if this is evidence of a slide into a bigger catastrophe but it certainly is interesting nonetheless.
11 responses so far ↓
1 theotherryan // Feb 2, 2010 at 6:59 am
I think rail would be a lot harder. First of all I don’t know where to buy a train engine. Second of all the escape routes are far more limited without taking the time to transfer the cargo. A truck can be anywhere in an hour or two. A train can be an hour or two up or down the tracks. A lot harder to pull it into a discrete location such as a large abandoned (or friendly owned) barn.
Not talking about stealing the train, man….just the cargo. A buncha guys, a few trucks, a couple hours in the middle of the night and next morning …poof!…empty boxcar.
2 Sam // Feb 2, 2010 at 8:28 am
Don’t the newer and nicer tractor trailers have GPS systems (or some type of tracking devices) on them? Is it possible for a company to locate the stolen freight?
3 Clarke // Feb 2, 2010 at 3:21 pm
The cabs of most trucking companies have GPS trackers, often with a satellite modem for coverage outside cell phone areas. Military secure cargo containers often have their own tracking, monitoring and alarm systems in the container. Real high-value gov’t cargo goes by Safe-Secure-Trailers which are rolling vaults.
Pity if we see the prices of good rise because of increase insurance rates for over-the-road cargo…
4 accutrax // Feb 2, 2010 at 3:37 pm
A flip side to this is thieves with trucks and trailers stealing livestock, and other goods.
Cattle stealing is occuring with greater frequency.
If you need to ship a nice vehicle, motorcycle, etc by truck, be sure that the truck line that you are using is reputable. If you are using a load broker, make sure that they are bonded and insured. You do not want your high dollar vehicle to end up in a container on a ship heading to a Russian or Asian port. I like to contact the shipper, not put the haul on a internet bid. Who knows who is bidding to pick up your Corvette? It’s like I’ll call you, don’t call me. Crooks to the left of me, crooks to the right.
5 Mike in Maryland // Feb 2, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Having worked for a Class 1 railroad as a conductor and engineer, I can tell you that things do get stolen off trains. The ones that seemed to get hit the most were the trailer trains. If you stopped for any reason, you had to try and keep an eye on your train. However, its hard to keep an eye on a train that can be over a mile long. Fortunately, your fellow railroaders when they passed you on another train always looked you over to make sure everything was Kosher. I personally had this happen on 2 trailer trains in 2 years.
6 Beprepared // Feb 3, 2010 at 7:15 am
Something not advertised is the fact that the DOE uses commercial shipping to move material (I don’t know what, I just know they do it.) that is shadowed by chase vehicles full of unfreindly DOE armed guards.
Frequently when using the “Safe-Secure” boxes, they GPS tracker on the tractor is frequently turned off (the shipping company does not know where the cargo is), but the box has it’s own tracker that reports even if removed from the truck/train.
CZ, I see what you mean about the train in the middle of the night however I suspect those cars are empty awaiting useage. One good thing to look at is how many engines are pulling the number of cars in the train. Five to 10 (loaded) cars per engine is usually a good indicator.
7 Rob // Feb 3, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Hey, do you know that your Archive and About links at the top of the page are busted?
Yeah, im working on it.
8 Discobobby // Feb 3, 2010 at 4:55 pm
When DOE moves materials via SST that convoy is armed to the teeth and has trained for almost every possible situation, including being overrun. The trailer can defend itself quite well, even when not covered by fire from the convoy. The SSTs are not moved using commercial tractors, they use dedicated and armored DOE tractors and employees. Attacking an SST convoy is a suicide mission with zero chance of success. Items of lesser value are moved commercial, and in convoy as you described.
9 Beprepared // Feb 4, 2010 at 7:57 am
Discobobby, good to know. I had not known about the dedicated tractors, I know that DOE shooters consistantly outshot the FBI at all the matches I attended.
As far as attacking being a suicide mission, I agree there. As I said, those agents have zero sense of humor, think Rodney King video but with body armour and assualt rifles.
And hey, disco is dead…
10 theotherryan // Feb 4, 2010 at 11:46 am
Someone I know looked into it and the DOE have some very serious and seasoned individuals doing their security.
11 Discobobby // Feb 4, 2010 at 4:42 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Secure_Transportation
They look like normal rigs, might even use existing commercial logos. That Frito-Lay truck might not be carrying chips.
They have enormous legal powers to safeguard the cargo, including the declaration of a National Security Area that trumps all other jurisdictions. The convoy also has enormous firepower, perhaps even beyond what you might see the Air Force using to safeguard a missile transfer. “Assault rifles” are at the lowest end of the spectrum. All of it camouflaged to look like a normal civilian truck and random civilian highway traffic around it, not a convoy. The “No Nukes” protesters have no obvious targets, and they try very, very hard.
Most DOE contract security guys vary in skills and capability. The OST guys are the real deal, “serious and seasoned” is on the money. It’s one of the few well-run government programs that works very well. They will do all they can to de-escalate and avoid trouble to stay covert, but if that doesn’t work out your lifespan is measured is milliseconds and whatever is left of you will consist of a fine red mist.
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