Cargo crime continues to disrupt US, Mexican freight sectors

The areas around Los Angeles and Long Beach accounted for 36% of all cargo theft cases in the U.S. during the quarter, Overhaul reported.

“What we’re seeing is a kind of a recentralization around California,” Ramon said. “We’ve seen over the past couple of years, thefts start to spread out, especially along Interstate-10 and Interstate-40 in Arizona, New Mexico and into Texas.”

The uncertainty around the tariff wars between the U.S. and other countries caused a lot of shippers to front load their imports into California’s ports, Ramon said.

“That said, if you look to the eastern half of the U.S., those states were not affected in the same way,” he said. “We saw some increases in some of the states on the eastern side, such as Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and especially Illinois. We saw increases in those states compared to previous reporting periods.”

Related: Organized crime groups fuel rise of US cargo thefts

Overhaul data showed that with electronics stolen in the U.S. during the second quarter, mixed loads led with 29%, followed by batteries/panels at 18%, computers at 14%, and televisions and displays at 11%.

For the food and beverages category, coffee, energy drinks, and sports drinks accounted for 21% of theft incidents; while produce and candy, cookies, and snacks made up 15%.

Home and garden goods contributed to 13% of thefts in the quarter, with appliances at 38% and pet supplies at 21%. 

Pilferage remained the most common method of cargo theft, accounting for 52% of all reported incidents in the quarter. 

Theft from full truckloads accounted for 22% of thefts in the second quarter, with the most incidents occurring in Texas (56%), followed by Illinois (12%), Pennsylvania (7%), and California (7%).

Theft from facilities was flat year-over-year at 14%, while deceptive pickup incidents increased to 7%. Thefts from last-mile couriers decreased to 2% year-over-year. 

Hijacking incidents from trucks rose 3% year-over-year in the U.S. during the quarter, Overhaul said.

In Mexico, the states of Puebla, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Veracruz, San Luis Potosí and the state of Mexico accounted for 70% of cargo theft cases during the second quarter.

Puebla and the state of Mexico, located in the center of the country, accounted for 23.5% and 20% of cargo crimes, respectively

The three most stolen product types in Mexico during the second quarter were food and beverage (33%), and building and industrial materials (10%).

The main mode of operation used by criminals in Mexico during the quarter was the interception of trucks while they were in-transit, which occurred in 65% of the cases, Overhaul reported. 

Coming in second was theft from unsecured parking locations in Mexico, accounting for 34% of incidents in the second quarter.