JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Almost three a day.

That’s how many trailer loads full of stuff were swiped in the States last year. One thousand and thirty five, to precise.

In 2009, there were only 700.

The most popular single category (17%) was easily-fenced electronic goods.

Food was the second-biggest target at 13 percent. Clothing came a close third.

And although pound-for-pound pharmaceuticals and medical supplies represented a small slice (3%) of the stolen goods, they represent more, financially, than even the high-volume electronic thefts.

Significantly more cargo thefts happen over the weekend. Probably because trucks often get loaded on Saturday but sit idle in the yard.

And OTR trucks were hit more than local truckers.

All this information was released in the first annual cargo-theft report by CargoNet — an offshoot of the publicly traded Verisk, which provides risk-related analysis and actuarial services to the insurance industry.

Other highlights: Thefts are more likely to occur in high-cargo areas such as California, the northeast, Florida and Texas.

The further inland cargo gets, the less likely it is to be swiped, but, the report warns, highway rest stops are frequently high-risk areas for cargo.

Theoretically, you might think cargo criminals are most active when times are tough, but CargoNet explains that the depth of the recession is 2009 didn’t have as many thefts as last year because there was less to choose from.

"As the economy continued to recover in 2010," the report states, "we saw a significant increase in retail activity. With greater amounts of shipments headed to stores, cargo thieves took advantage."

You can see a copy of the full report, complete with CargoNet’s own explanations for why certain thefts are more popular than others, here.