Retail Theft’s Next Frontier

Retail theft no longer begins or ends in a store aisle. What Americans once understood as “organized retail crime” has evolved into something far more dangerous and far more costly: a sweeping wave of cargo theft targeting the trucks, trains, ports, and warehouses that move the goods every community depends on.

And unless policymakers treat cargo theft with the same seriousness they’ve recently brought to retail crime, American families will pay the price in fewer jobs, higher costs, and shrinking access to the everyday products that keep life moving.

Put plainly: cargo theft is retail theft, just earlier in the chain. And its consequences are bigger.

The New Face of Organized Crime: Theft on the Move

For years, Americans watched viral videos of coordinated smash-and-grab rings clearing out pharmacies, department stores, and big-box retailers. That was alarming enough.

But now, thieves aren’t waiting for merchandise to reach a store.

Recent data from CargoNet, the nation’s leading supply-chain theft tracking organization, found 3,625 reported cargo theft incidents in 2024, a 27 percent increase from 2023 and the highest ever recorded. Losses exceeded $454.9 million, with an average theft value of over $200,000 per incident.

They’re hitting:

• Freight trains parked on city tracks, breaking open containers with industrial tools in broad daylight.
• 18-wheelers stopped at rest areas and distribution hubs, sometimes attacking drivers themselves.
• Port and airport cargo facilities, where high-value shipments are targeted before they ever leave the ground.

These aren’t petty theft operations. These are coordinated criminal networks exploiting weak security points in America’s freight system, and the ripple effects travel far beyond the warehouse gate.

Why Every American Should Care

 Cargo theft isn’t an industry problem. It’s a household problem.

When a truckload of electronics disappears, or a train car full of consumer staples is looted, the fallout touches:

• Your wallet
  • Insurers raise premiums. Shippers pay more for security. Retailers absorb losses.
  • And you pay the difference at checkout — on everything from detergent to diapers to televisions.
• Your access to goods
  • Retail theft has already forced stores in vulnerable communities to close their doors.
  • Cargo theft accelerates that trend by disrupting supply before products even reach neighborhoods.
• Your job market
  • Truck drivers, rail workers, warehouse teams, and retail employees all rely on stable, predictable freight movement.
  • When supply chains become a target, investment slows. Hiring slows. Communities lose economic opportunity.

With 3.6 million U.S. truck drivers and over 150,000 Class I railroad workers, the economic footprint of freight is enormous. Cargo theft undermines all of it.

The Current Response Isn’t Enough

Congress has taken a meaningful first step with the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (H.R. 2853/S. 1404) legislation aimed at improving federal coordination and intelligence sharing. It recognizes the problem. It creates a mechanism to track it.

But cargo theft requires a broader, more forceful strategy:

1. State and local law enforcement must treat cargo theft as a major crime, not a property nuisance. These networks operate across multiple counties and states — yet responses are often siloed. Coordination must become the norm.

2. Prosecutors must impose consequences that match the scale of the crime. A $500,000 stolen shipment cannot be treated like shoplifting. Criminal penalties should reflect the economic and community impact.

3. Public-private partnerships need to be strengthened — especially in port cities and freight hubs. Industry has invested billions in logistics infrastructure. Government must invest in protecting it.

4. Data collection must dramatically improve. Right now, cargo theft is underreported, inconsistently tracked, and often misclassified. Policymakers can’t solve what they can’t measure.

A National Economy Cannot Function if Its Freight Is Up for Grabs

 America’s supply chain is a living ecosystem. When organized criminal networks target freight, they don’t just steal products; they steal stability from families, workers, and local economies.

If retail theft was the warning light, cargo theft is the alarm bell.

We cannot wait until more stores shutter, more jobs disappear, or more communities lose access to the goods they rely on. Policymakers at every level must recognize cargo theft for what it is: a fast-escalating national threat that demands coordinated national action.

Protecting freight isn’t just protecting commerce; it’s protecting the everyday lives of millions of Americans who depend on it.

READ MORE:

Railroads Must Keep Pace With the Economy

Childhood Nicotine Poisoning and Public Policy

Minnesota Welfare Scandal Is the Fraud Warning Americans Finally Noticed

Phil Bell (pbell@towerkgroup.com ) is CEO Tower K Group. David M. Ozgo (ozgodavid@gmail.com)  is Executive Director of the Center for Transportation Advancement.