A report on global cargo theft shows road transport is the biggest target accounting for 84% of the crime.
Leading international transport and logistics insurer TT Club and global supply chain intelligence provider BSI produced the findings.
The first regular Semi-Annual Global Cargo Theft Intelligence and Advisory Report was released last year but the second edition is the first to cover a complete twelve-month period.
Key findings show “slash and grab” is the largest type of cargo theft at 26% globally but with significant regional variations.
TT Club’s Mike Yarwood says the report provides risk management and loss prevention insights based on threat and intelligence data.
“It demonstrates the shared goal we possess of educating supply chain professionals in the threat of cargo theft across the globe.
“We aim to engage in a proactive approach in preventing cargo crime and also minimising the financial loss resulting from cargo crime,” he says.
The combination of food, beverage, alcohol and tobacco make up the most common commodity group at 34% and South America tops the regional analysis of median value for each theft at US$77,000.
While the research found a consistency across the regions in terms of the most common modality involved (road transport) and in the commodities targeted, there was some variation in the median value of the cargo affected.
This ranged from just under US$19,000 in Asia, to around US$60,000 in both Europe and North America.
The methods used in the majority of cases varied significantly across the regions.
The global aggregation resulted in “slash and grab” topping the list at 26%, theft from vehicle (19%) and hijacking (17%) making up second and third spot.
In North and South America, hijacking was the most common method at 37% and 52% respectively.
In Asia, methodology was quite different with “theft from a facility” being the most common, at 43% compared with just 19% from hijacking.
The report includes several pieces of loss prevention advice to counter the identified threats. The risk mitigation advisory sections have been co-authored by BSI’s advisory supply chain security team and the TT Club’s claims and loss prevention team.
“In particular we would wish to emphasise the insider threat. As security measures become more sophisticated and widespread in practice, criminal organisations are increasingly recruiting employees of targeted companies to gain data, cargo information, delivery routes and destinations and access to IT systems.
“Due diligence in recruiting and managing staff is paramount. In general full or part-time salaried staff are less of a security risk than sub-contractors,” Yarwood says.
*Click here to download the full report.
