By Michael Nielsen, Publisher | 15+ Years in Diesel Repair
Last Updated: October 2026
Cargo theft in trucking is the taking of freight, whether by force, by stealing a trailer, or by fraud that gets a carrier or shipper to hand a load over willingly. In 2025, Verisk CargoNet estimated U.S. and Canadian losses at nearly $725 million, a 60 percent increase, even though the number of events stayed flat.
This Heavy Duty Journal guide covers the 2025 annual figures, what CargoNet's 2026 quarterly data shows, the main types of theft, and the defenses that fit fleets and owner-operators. It corrects several older figures and drops statistics that could not be traced to a primary source.
Key Takeaways
- ✓2025 losses hit nearly $725 million. Verisk CargoNet counted 3,594 supply chain crime events in 2025, a flat total, while estimated losses rose 60 percent as thieves chose higher-value loads.
- ✓2026 is fewer thefts and larger losses. CargoNet's Q2 2026 count fell 26 percent to 677 incidents, but estimated losses more than doubled to $304.6 million.
- ✓Most stolen cargo is not recovered. ATRI's 2025 report found about 73.5 percent of cargo stolen from motor carriers is never recovered.
- ✓Email and identity fraud drive the largest schemes. The FBI's April 2026 alert describes phishing, account takeover, and fake load board listings used to redirect freight.
- ✓Verification is the main defense. Check the carrier, the driver, and the contact method independently, because documents alone can be forged.
In This Guide
- Cargo Theft in Trucking: The 2025 and 2026 Numbers
- Types of Cargo Theft
- What Thieves Are Targeting and Where
- How Criminal Tactics Have Changed
- Prevention: Physical Security and Tracking
- Prevention: Verification and Cyber Hygiene
- What Federal Agencies Are Doing
- Insurance, Reporting, and Response
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The Bottom Line
Cargo Theft in Trucking: The 2025 and 2026 Numbers
CargoNet's annual analysis recorded 3,594 supply chain crime events across the U.S. and Canada in 2025, essentially unchanged from 3,607 in 2024. Confirmed cargo thefts rose 18 percent, from 2,243 to 2,646, and the average value per theft rose 36 percent to $273,990. See the CargoNet 2025 analysis.
$273,990
Average value per cargo theft in 2025, up 36 percent from $202,364 in 2024, per Verisk CargoNet.
The 2026 data shows the same pattern. CargoNet counted 767 events in the first quarter, down 5.3 percent from a year earlier, and 677 incidents in the second quarter, down 26 percent. Estimated Q2 losses were $304.6 million against $135.7 million a year earlier. See Verisk's Q2 release.
Those figures cover reported incidents. ATRI's October 2025 report estimated that cargo theft costs the industry up to $6.6 billion a year, and found that motor carriers averaged about $521,000 in annual theft losses in its survey, with a median of $65,000. It also found about 73.5 percent of cargo stolen from motor carriers is never recovered. See ATRI's report.
Types of Cargo Theft
Straight theft is physical: a stolen trailer, a cut seal, a hijacking, or pilferage of part of a load. Unattended trailers at truck stops, yards, and facilities are the usual targets, and the response is physical hardening, tracking, and fewer hours when a loaded trailer sits unwatched.
Strategic theft uses deception. In a fictitious pickup, a criminal impersonates a real carrier and collects the freight with paperwork that looks right. In double brokering, someone who does not own the load re-tenders it to a real carrier, then redirects it. CargoNet recorded 158 fictitious pickups in Q2 2026, down slightly from 165 a year earlier. HDJ's fictitious pickup fraud and double brokering guides cover the red flags.
Cyber-enabled theft is the sophisticated end. The FBI's April 30, 2026 public service announcement says criminals have gained access to broker and carrier systems since at least 2024, typically through spoofed emails, fake URLs, and compromised accounts, and then post fraudulent load board listings to redirect freight. See the FBI alert. CargoNet's Q2 data names business email compromise as the main access point for many of the quarter's most sophisticated schemes.
What Thieves Are Targeting and Where
California had the most incidents in 2025 at 1,218, and California, Texas, and Illinois together made up nearly 52 percent of cargo theft. Within California, Kern County rose 82 percent and San Joaquin County rose 44 percent while Los Angeles County fell 11 percent. New Jersey rose 50 percent, Indiana 30 percent, and Pennsylvania 24 percent, so risk has spread beyond the long-standing hot spots.
Food and beverage led by incident count at 708, up 47 percent, with meat, seafood, and tree nuts among the most targeted. Metals theft rose 77 percent, driven by copper, and CargoNet reported metal theft rising again in Q2 2026, from 54 incidents to 80. Enterprise computing hardware and cryptocurrency mining equipment became top-tier targets, which reflects thieves choosing goods that are valuable and easy to resell.
How Criminal Tactics Have Changed
CargoNet says the shift is toward fewer, larger operations. Part of the 2026 decline came from fewer non-delivery schemes, in which criminals take over an established motor carrier's authority and reputation and pick up freight with no intent to deliver it, while compromise-based schemes stayed steady. Criminals adapt to what carriers and brokers check.
Identity theft is central. HDJ's carrier identity theft guide explains how MC numbers are stolen or bought, and its GPS spoofing guide covers attacks on tracking. Insiders are another route: a dock worker or dispatcher who passes along load details can bypass external controls, so background checks and separation of duties matter.
Prevention: Physical Security and Tracking
Physical measures still stop opportunistic theft. Use hardened locks, kingpin and air brake locks on parked trailers, and tamper-evident seals with the seal number recorded at departure and checked at delivery. Choose secured, fenced stops for loaded trailers, and cut the time a high-value trailer sits unattended.
Tracking gives you speed. Configure geofence and unscheduled-stop alerts so someone sees a deviation in minutes, not the next morning, and consider a concealed backup tracker on high-value freight in case the visible device is disabled. HDJ's fleet telematics ROI and fleet dash cameras guides cover the equipment side.
Cameras and telematics add evidence and context, such as door events and engine data, but they do not stop a load that was handed over willingly. That is why the next layer matters more.
Prevention: Verification and Cyber Hygiene
Verify the carrier through channels you control. Check the USDOT and MC numbers in FMCSA's SAFER records, confirm insurance with the issuing insurer, match the driver's identity to what you have on file, and call back on a number from official records or a prior relationship, not one in the message. Give new authorities extra scrutiny. HDJ's how to check a DOT number guide shows what a lookup does and does not tell you.
Key Recommendation
For every new carrier on a high-value load, confirm the driver, the carrier identity, and the insurance through contacts you found yourself, not those on the paperwork presented.
Protect your own accounts. The FBI alert describes emails offering a carrier-broker agreement or asking you to review a poor service rating, with links that install remote monitoring software. Use multi-factor authentication on load board and broker accounts, train staff to treat links in unexpected broker emails as hostile, and watch for look-alike domains. HDJ's freight phishing guide covers the warning signs.
Owner-operators should also watch their own identity. Monitor your FMCSA record for unauthorized changes, watch for load board activity that is not yours, and make sure insurance certificates in circulation match what your insurer issued.
Free DOT Status Check
Enter a USDOT number and quickly review public carrier status, operating authority and key FMCSA registration data.
What Federal Agencies Are Doing
On September 19, 2025, DOT published a request for information titled "Protecting America's Supply Chain From Cargo Theft" (docket DOT-OST-2025-1326), asking about strategic theft networks, reporting, and how DOT agencies should coordinate with the FBI and DHS. Comments closed October 20, 2025. See the Federal Register notice.
FMCSA's Motus registration system now runs identity verification and business verification, which target fraudulent registrations. Verification confirms who registered, not how a carrier performs, so it does not replace your own checks. HDJ's FMCSA identity verification guide explains the process.
Insurance, Reporting, and Response
Review your cargo policy for how it treats theft by fraud, where the freight was handed to an impostor, and ask your broker in writing whether fictitious pickup and impersonation losses are covered, at what limits and deductible. Do not assume a policy that covers a break-in covers a load surrendered to a fake carrier.
Report every incident, including small ones. Report to local law enforcement and to CargoNet, and file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center when email or account compromise is involved, as the FBI advises. Reporting helps connect patterns that no single victim can see.
Plan the first hour. Write down who is notified, what is pulled first (last GPS position, driver contact, seal number, load value, load board and email records), which agencies are called, and when your insurer is told. Delay lowers the odds of recovery, so decide the sequence before you need it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common type of cargo theft?
By commodity, food and beverage had the most incidents in 2025. By method, physical theft is still common, while strategic theft such as fictitious pickups drives many of the largest losses.
Which states have the most cargo theft?
CargoNet reports California first with 1,218 incidents in 2025, then Texas and Illinois. New Jersey, Indiana, and Pennsylvania also posted sharp year-over-year increases, so risk has spread beyond the old hot spots.
How much stolen cargo is recovered?
ATRI's 2025 report found about 73.5 percent of cargo stolen from motor carriers is never recovered, and only a small share of incidents end in full recovery, so prevention matters most.
How do I avoid double brokering and fictitious pickups?
Verify the carrier and driver through independent contacts, confirm insurance with the insurer, scrutinize new authorities, and never rely only on documents presented at pickup.
What should I do right after a theft?
Pull the last GPS position, load details, and driver contact, report to law enforcement and CargoNet, notify your insurer, and file with the FBI's IC3 if email or accounts were compromised.
The Bottom Line
Cargo theft is fewer incidents with larger losses, and the biggest schemes use identity and email fraud, not bolt cutters. Strong locks and tracking still matter, but verification of carriers, drivers, and contacts is the defense that closes the gap.
Heavy Duty Journal's guidance at heavydutyjournal.com, from publisher Michael Nielsen and the HDJ editorial team, is to layer physical security, tracking, verification, account security, and a written response plan, and to check coverage for fraud-based losses.
As of October 2026, theft statistics and federal actions change, so confirm current figures before relying on them.
Share This With Your Dispatcher or Broker
Anyone who vets carriers or books freight should see how the schemes work and what to check before a pickup.
