It might be the most wonderful time of the year for retailers looking to capitalize on fourth-quarter sales goals, but cargo thieves are planning to intercept vulnerable packages for a payday of their own.

According to CargoNet’s report from last year’s holiday season, 185 thefts resulted in more than $9 million lost between December 23, 2021 and January 2, 2022. The New York Times reported that in the last three months of 2021 alone, Los Angeles County saw an average of more than 90 containers compromised every single day. That led to $5 million in claims, losses and damages at a single rail hub.

CargoNet says the top items on every thief’s wish list last year were food and drinks, household goods and electronics. Pricier foods such as meats and seafood will surely remain atop this year’s list due to inflation raising prices on store shelves. High-end apparel will also be big targets, as well as televisions, other electronics and the hot toys of the season. Anything that’s subject to purchasing shortages, like the baby formula crisis that began impacting families earlier this year, will be attractive to thieves to upsell on the gray market.

To mitigate potential losses throughout the holidays, following are three tips to keep your cargo safer and your customers happier in the process.

Conduct extensive vetting. Make sure you’re doing your homework before anyone picks up your items. Conduct extensive vetting of carriers so you know exactly who is going to be carrying your cargo at any given time, on any given leg of the journey.

The Washington Post recently reported the arrest of three men who allegedly stole $9 million worth of frozen meat and other equipment from various Midwest packaging plants over the course of 18 months. If those three had been properly vetted when picking up the meat, the losses might not have been so high, or gone on for so long.

As soon as you know who’s going to be picking up a load, do some research on them. Use the SAFER system to find a list of all registered carriers in the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Write down their phone number and look up their physical address, so you can make sure it all matches up. If you have a carrier who claims to have 150 drivers but their physical address is a house, that should raise some red flags.

It sounds like a no-brainer, but make sure that the driver picking up the load matches the picture on the driver’s license. Take pictures of the license, as well as the truck’s license plate. Make sure that the trailer is displaying a USDOT sticker, as well as the required company information placard. And confirm that the ID numbers match what you were given beforehand. 

Double check it all. You should look through a few official sources to be 100% sure you aren’t dealing with a person fabricating, or even stealing, a carrier identity before it’s too late.

Remember compliance standards. The goal for any company is to stop cargo thefts before they even happen. You can do that by keeping compliance standards top of mind. Larger carriers are better at this than smaller ones, according to Transportation Journal, but may increase the risk of double or triple brokering without your knowledge, so make sure you have agreements preventing this in place. Compliance is more important than ever as the industry rapidly grows.

According to the American Trucking Associations (ATA), national trucking freight volume has increased by more than 60% in 2022. DHL is looking to hire at least 2,000 seasonal workers this holiday season in the U.S. That’s a variety of new shippers and a host of new carriers who might not be in compliance. If brokers aren’t careful, their cargo might be stuck with a driver who is non-compliant.

It’s worth your time and effort to monitor compliance to ward off nefarious drivers from the get-go. Stop the problem before it starts, instead of trying to catch a driver in the act of steal your cargo and dealing with the aftermath. All it takes is simply checking on drivers and making sure they’re abiding by all the rules.

Engage local law enforcement. Whether it’s a multimillion-dollar meat heist or a stolen cargo trailer in Ohio, working with law enforcement is the first step in tracking nefarious and ever more elaborate cargo theft activity.

According to BSI, around 32% of all truck cargo thefts in 2021 occurred while in-transit, while 13% happened at rest areas or unsecured roadside parking. Meanwhile, rail theft is up 160% since 2020. The data shows that cargo at rest is cargo at risk.

If you are suspicious of a carrier, engage with your local law enforcement agency immediately. Their resources can assist in tracking a malicious driver to quickly recover stolen cargo. Identify a path to effective engagement with law enforcement beforehand. 

In 2021, ATA formed the Law Enforcement Advisory Board to enhance highway safety and improve the security of freight transportation nationwide. Members have previous experience in federal, state, and local law enforcement. And, according to its most recent information, the FBI has seven task forces across the country to mitigate cargo theft. Use both organizations to your advantage, outside of your local law enforcement agency, when you believe you might have a cargo theft on your hands.

The combination of high freight volumes, reduced hours, congested ports, labor shortages and cargo sitting idle during the holiday season creates the perfect storm for cargo thieves to snatch high-value items this winter. By conducting extensive vetting, remembering compliance standards, and actively engaging with local law enforcement, you can ensure shipments get to their desired destinations, and no criminals are feasting on your precious cargo.

Danny Ramon is intelligence and response manager at Overhaul.