Cargo theft is skyrocketing, and double brokering is partly to blame

Is the cavalry coming for cargo thieves and double brokers? Some watchers believe the huge rise in theft numbers in recent times could lead to boosted enforcement against the latter, given fraud proliferation in freight networks.Source for chart: Verisk CargoNetCargo theft in trucking has ramped up, and double-brokered loads from international groups of organized criminals have helped drive it to all-time highs, according to Scott Cornell, the Transportation Lead and Crime and Theft Specialist at Travelers Insurance.

Seasoned owner-ops will know the common best practices to protect against cargo theft -- avoid known hotspots, don't tell anyone anything they don't need to know, and situational awareness at all times. 

At this point in the double-brokering "fraud epidemic," as the Transportation Intermediaries Association's leader Anne Reinke called it, most owner-operators pulling freight off of load boards also have gotten schooled in ways to avoid getting swindled. But a new front in that battle, according to Scott Cornell, might just open up as big businesses like mega shippers finally feel the pain. 

Cornell said that as thieves attack the U.S. freight industry with increasing frequency, the global market for stolen goods expands, and so too federal law enforcement's ire at the dire situation. 

[Related: The double brokering scourge: How it happens, and ways to fight back]

"There's straight theft and strategic theft," Cornell said. "Straight theft is when thieves get to cargo wherever it sits, at drop-offs in port areas or truck stops, and physically steal the freight through pilferage, just taking part or the whole tractor-trailer. This is still the most common method" of theft reported to CargoNet.

A string of straight thefts took place in Philadelphia, for example, where a cargo theft ring held drivers at gunpoint while stealing seafood, electronics and even coins being hauled for a U.S. mint.