Extended closures during the upcoming holidays bring extended opportunities for cargo thieves to strike. CargoNet examined theft data from December 23 to January 2 from 2015 to 2019 to help businesses mitigate increased theft risks. There were 177 thefts that occurred in the analysis period. December 27 and January 1 were the most common days for thefts, with 24 and 23 reported thefts respectively. There was an average of 35 thefts per season and both 2016 and 2019 recorded above-average levels of theft. The average value of each event was estimated to be $152,653. Thefts were reported in 25 different states and Canadian provinces, but nearly 39% of all thefts in the analysis occurred in Texas or California.
Twenty-seven percent of all cargo thefts recorded involved theft of food and beverage freight. In that category, cargo thieves seemed to prefer stealing shipments of non-alcoholic beverages, alcoholic beverages, and meat. Eighteen percent of cargo thefts involved theft of a household commodity in which cargo thieves overwhelmingly targeted shipments of furniture. CargoNet also recorded 6 thefts of computer products and 6 thefts of televisions and displays in this analysis.
Noteworthy thefts from previous winter holiday.
- $3,000,000 theft of networking equipment from Dinuba, California
- $599,559 theft of footwear from Long Beach, California
- $507,105 theft of tequila from Tampa, Florida
- $417,000 theft of footwear from Portland, Oregon
- $400,000 theft of mattresses from Columbia, Maryland
