Data Sharing Mitigates Cargo Risk

By Matt Pillar, chief editor

August 2013 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

When LP/security, supply chain, and law enforcement stakeholders collaborate over good data, cargo theft is thwarted.

U.S. retail cargo theft isn’t so much about pirates in the Caribbean as it is about mobsters on the Interstate. Most of the estimated $15 billion in cargo stolen on U.S. soil every year comes at the hands of organized criminals targeting unattended trailers or impersonating third-party carriers. What’s more, the problem is on the rise in terms of both incident volume and loss incurred. CargoNet reports a 22 percent increase in Q2 cargo theft incidents in 2012 over the same quarter in 2011; 20 percent of those 2012 thefts resulted in losses between $100,000 and $1,000,000, versus 18 percent in Q2 2011.

Fortunately, CargoNet offers more than retrospective data on what’s been stolen. When applied to the data it collects, analytical tools are helping retailers turn the corner on their exposure to cargo thieves. We talked through the issue — and how analytics from CargoNet help alleviate it — with Anthony Canale, VP at Verisk Crime Analytics.