Ontario sees spike in cargo theft activity

by Truck News

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Ontario was the second most common place in North America, in the first quarter of 2017, for cargo theft activity, according to a recent analysis by CargoNet.

California remained the state with the most cargo thefts and reported 51 cargo theft events in Q1 2017. Normally, Texas follows California but in this quarter was displaced by Ontario. Ontario reported 29 cargo theft events in Q1 2017, an increase of 262% year-over-year.

Most of the reports were in the Greater Toronto area.

In the first three months of 2017, there were ten cargo thefts reported in Brampton, five in Mississauga, and five in Toronto. In many cases, the thefts in these cities were occurring on the same street or even at the same address, CargoNet said.

A total of 358 supply chain risk incidents occurred across the US and Canada in Q1 2017.

According to the data, of the 358 incidents, 58% involved theft of a trucking vehicle, 54% involved theft of cargo, and 7% were classified as fraud (often identity theft and wire fraud). In total, 192 cargo theft events were recorded, and the cargo in each theft was worth an average of $149,522, bringing the total estimated loss to $28.7 million for the quarter.

There were 339 trucking vehicles reported stolen, including 137 tractors and 143 trailers.

CargoNet said secured yards were the most common location where cargo thefts occurred this quarter. Warehouse locations were next, followed closely by parking lots with 28 thefts.

Food and beverage products were the most stolen items in Q1 2017, and 31% of all reported cargo thefts involved those commodities. Specifically, meat products were the most stolen food and beverage item, with 17 thefts. Nonalcoholic and alcoholic beverages followed with nine and eight thefts, respectively. Household items were the next most common category; 15% of cargo thefts involved this commodity.

 


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