Cargo theft is the criminal taking of goods that are part of a commercial shipment moving in commerce, whether from a truck, trailer, railcar, container, warehouse or freight terminal. It takes four main forms: straight theft of whole loads, pilferage of part of a load, strategic theft by deception such as fictitious pickups, and cyber theft. Verisk CargoNet estimated losses in the US and Canada at nearly $725 million in 2025, up 60% from 2024, as organized groups went after higher-value freight.
Key Takeaways
- The FBI’s reporting definition covers any commercial shipment moving in commerce, including freight sitting in a warehouse, yard or trailer between legs of the trip.
- Theft from an interstate shipment is a federal crime under 18 U.S.C. § 659, with up to 10 years in prison.
- Straight theft and pilferage hit freight at rest; strategic theft and cyber theft trick a company into handing freight over.
- CargoNet’s 2025 and 2026 data show fewer or flat incident counts but much larger losses per theft.
- Prevention works in layers: identity checks at pickup, seals and locks, a controlled yard and cameras someone watches live.
Cargo Theft Defined: Freight Stolen While It’s Moving in Commerce
Cargo theft is the theft of goods that belong to a commercial shipment while they’re on their way from origin to destination. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting definition was written after a 2005 act of Congress ordered cargo theft tracked as its own category. It was published in a 2009 bulletin and is still the one police use to flag cargo theft in national crime data. It covers goods, money or baggage taken from trucks, trailers, railcars, vessels, aircraft, intermodal containers, warehouses and freight distribution facilities.
Federal law treats it seriously. Under 18 U.S.C. § 659, stealing from an interstate or foreign shipment carries up to 10 years in prison, or up to 3 years when the goods are worth under $1,000. Knowingly buying or holding stolen freight is covered too.
For a warehouse or distribution center, the key word is “moving.” A loaded trailer parked overnight in your yard still counts as cargo in transit, so the riskiest hours are often the ones when freight sits still. That’s where warehouse video surveillance earns its place. To review your own yard and docks, Contact for inquiry.
The Four Main Types of Cargo Theft
The National Motor Freight Traffic Association, the trade body for less-than-truckload carriers, groups cargo theft into four types. Two use force or stealth on site; two use deception.
| Type | How it works | Where a facility feels it |
| Straight theft | Thieves break into a trailer, container or building and take the goods, or hook up and drive off with a loaded trailer | Yards, lots, dock doors, drop trailers left unattended |
| Pilferage | A few cartons or a pallet are taken, often after a seal is cut, and paperwork may be altered to hide the gap | Docks, cross-dock floors, trailers between handoffs |
| Strategic theft | Criminals pose as a real carrier, broker or shipper, often with stolen identities, and collect the freight legally on paper | The pickup at your gate, where a fictitious pickup happens |
| Cyber theft | Phishing or malware gives criminals real shipping documents and emails, so they can redirect a load | Your inbox and transport systems, then your gate |
Strategic theft is the one that surprises people. Nothing is broken and the load leaves through the front gate, signed for. The loss only shows up when the real carrier arrives or the customer calls.
Cargo Theft Statistics: Fewer Incidents, Bigger Losses
Cargo theft is getting more selective rather than more frequent. Verisk CargoNet, which tracks reported supply chain crime in the US and Canada, counted 3,594 events in 2025 against 3,607 in 2024. Losses still rose about 60% to nearly $725 million, and the average theft climbed 36% to $273,990, according to DC Velocity’s report on the CargoNet data (January 2026). CargoNet tied the jump to organized groups going after high-value loads instead of opportunistic thefts.
The pattern held into 2026. In the second quarter, CargoNet recorded 677 incidents, 26% fewer than a year earlier, while estimated losses rose to $304.6 million from $135.7 million (Insurance Journal, August 2026). Fictitious pickups barely moved, at 158 events against 165. Copper and computer and networking equipment were frequent targets.
The average theft with a reported value came to about $564,000 that quarter (FleetOwner). CargoNet noted a handful of multimillion-dollar losses pulled that number up, but the direction is clear: thieves are choosing loads worth the effort. For a facility, that makes a single successful theft far more expensive than it used to be.
What Cargo Theft Means for Your Business
The value of the stolen load is only the start. A theft from your yard or dock can also bring:
- A customer order that misses its date and has to be rebuilt.
- An insurance claim, a deductible and questions about how the freight was secured.
- Hours of staff time pulling paperwork, gate logs and video for police and insurers.
- A repeat visit, because a yard that was easy once tends to be tested again.
The facility’s role matters too. When a load disappears from your property, shippers and carriers will want to know what you saw and when.
How to Prevent Cargo Theft at Your Facility
Cargo theft prevention works in layers, because each type gets past a different control.
- Verify every pickup. Check the driver’s ID, truck and trailer numbers against the load tender, and confirm changes by calling a number from official records, never one in the email. NMFTA recommends the same cross-checks.
- Lock and seal. Use high-security seals, kingpin and landing gear locks on drop trailers, and record seal numbers at every handoff so pilferage shows up early.
- Shorten dwell time. The less time a loaded trailer sits in the yard, especially over a weekend, the smaller the window.
- Control the yard. Fence and light the trailer rows, keep one staffed or watched entrance and back trailers against walls or each other where you can.
- Watch the yard live. Recorded-only cameras tell you what happened after the trailer is gone. Live monitoring lets someone act while it’s happening.
Here is what that looks like at 1 a.m. on a Sunday: AI flags a person cutting a seal on a trailer in the back row, and moments later an operator is looking at the same camera. The person hears over the yard speaker that they’re on camera and police are on the way, and the operator phones police before the trailer doors are open.
For more on lots where trucks wait overnight, see our page on parking lot monitoring, and for the full facility plan, our guide to choosing a warehouse security system.
Keep Freight in Your Yard With Monitex Security
Loaded trailers don’t need a guard at every row; they need someone who notices. Monitex Security’s trained monitoring operators view your yard, dock and gate cameras around the clock through live video monitoring.
- AI picks up movement among the trailers or at a dock door, and a trained operator reviews it before anyone is called.
- Intruders hear a warning over the speakers, and the operator calls police while they’re on site.
- Every incident comes with a report and timestamped footage for police, insurers and your customer.
- We can work with the cameras already on your site or add new ones where the yard has blind spots.
To talk through your docks, yard and gate, contact for inquiry.