JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Make sure your cargo is safe this Thanksgiving holiday. Most of us are looking forward to a day off and enjoying a big meal with family and friends, but cargo thieves are ready to punch the clock. During the week of Thanksgiving in 2012, 2013, and 2014, thieves stole nearly $6 million in cargo, 44 semitractors and 51 semitrailers across 103 reported incidents. Thieves were especially busy in Texas, which recorded double the amount of theft incidents compared with the next hardest-hit state, California. According to CargoNet® data, thefts gradually increased from Monday, spiked on Wednesday, and gradually decreased afterward to average levels of theft. This does not necessarily mean that Wednesday was the worst day for theft incidents. In 39 percent of incidents, the victim did not know on what day the vehicle and/or cargo were stolen because it was left unattended and unchecked for several days. In such cases, the first day of the range is assumed. Sixty percent of reported incidents occurred in the top three targeted locations. Parking lots and warehouses were tied, with 22 incidents each, while truck stops were slightly behind, with 18 incidents. All of the recorded truck stop thefts were in the eastern half of the country. Food and beverage items were the most targeted commodity in this reporting period. Nonalcoholic beverages and meat products were the two most stolen in the category and were 39.1 percent of food and beverage losses. Metals were the next most targeted commodity; 70 percent of stolen metal loads were copper. view Infographic
Noteworthy thefts from previous Thanksgiving weeks: $2,100,000 theft of apparel & accessories from a parking lot in Carson, CA $537,000 theft of fragrances from a truck stop in Yemassee, SC $447,000 theft of footwear in Houston, TX $441,000 theft of apparel & accessories from a truck stop in Staunton, VA $227,000 theft of televisions from a truck stop in Glendale, KY CargoNet is a division of Verisk Crime Analytics, a Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK) business.