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Cargo crime in North America down in Q3, but losses are mounting

Organised criminal networks are increasingly exploiting identity fraud, carrier impersonation and weaknesses in freight verification, driving cargo theft losses across Canada and the US up 39% year on year, despite a sharp decline in reported incidents Verisk CargoNet recorded 2,072 of reported supply chain crime incidents across the countries through to 23 October, marking a 25% decrease in total numbers from the 2,755 recorded during the comparable period in 2025. VP operations at Verisk CargoNet Keith Lewis told The Loadstar: "But while the number of incidents declined, the financial impact moved in the opposite direction, losses increasing 39% to $718.9m." Furthermore, he noted that the average documented value of stolen goods had also registered a massive surge, 72% year on year, from approximately $261,000 to more than $448,000. Over the third quarter, CargoNet recorded 547 incidents, approximately 33% fewer than a year earlier, but estimated losses still reached $230.1m, with California accounting for the largest share, with 182 incidents, followed by New Jersey, Texas, and Illinois. "The data shows why fewer reported incidents should not necessarily be interpreted as lower cargo theft risk. Losses associated with these events are becoming increasingly significant," Mr Lewis added. Among the biggest concerns are fictitious pickups, where criminals impersonate legitimate carriers to collect and divert shipments, with CargoNet recording 138 such incidents in Q3, compared with 147 over the same period of 2025. Mr Lewis continued: "Criminals are looking for ways to exploit identity, communications, and shipment-verification processes to pose as legitimate participants in the supply chain." He noted these efforts tended to involve schemes making use of compromised business email accounts, internet-based phone systems, and transport-industry applications. On a commodity basis, food and beverages was the most frequently targeted category in Q3, accounting for 94 incidents, followed by metals (63), household goods (49), and electronics (46), while warehouses and distribution centres accounted for 197 reported incidents. Chair of TAPA Americas Scott Cornell told The Loadstar: "Cargo theft has fundamentally changed in the US over the last six years. We have seen massive increases in the overall cargo theft numbers and values, and, in particular, a significant rise in strategic cargo theft." He estimated strategic theft, involving deception rather than straightforward physical stealing, had risen 10-fold this decade, up from less than 3% of all cargo theft before 2020 to roughly 30% or more. While he stressed the majority of incidents involved conventional physical theft, Mr Cornell said: "Bad actors are using technology such as AI to become increasingly sophisticated and globalised, running these schemes from anywhere in the world." One emerging technique, the "Trojan Driver Scam", involves criminals infiltrating legitimate, vetted trucking companies, highlighting the limitations of verification systems concentrating on checking carriers rather than individual drivers. Consequently, Mr Cornell said: "Thorough background checks and carrier- and driver-level vetting need to be standard due diligence." Indeed, the Airforwarders' Association (AfA) is calling on US lawmakers to strengthen federal response by incorporating the Combating Organised Retail Crime Act (CORCA) into the final fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. AfA CEO Steve Smith said: "Forwarders are dealing with organised networks across state lines, exploiting gaps between jurisdictions. Republicans and Democrats should continue working together to give law enforcement and businesses the tools to root them out." The legislation, which passed the House of Representatives, would establish an Organised Retail and Supply Chain Crime Coordination Centre and improve intelligence sharing between federal, state, and local law enforcement, and private sector organisations. Mr Smith told The Loadstar: "It would help investigators connect related incidents across jurisdictions. A fraudulent pickup in one state and a stripped trailer in another may involve the same network, but fragmented information can make connection harder to identify." Furthermore, it also includes provisions to aggregate theft values over a 12-month period for certain federal stolen property offences, alongside expanded money laundering provisions and criminal forfeiture measures. AfA members have reported criminals buying established federal motor carrier registrations from struggling hauliers for $25,000-$35,000, with Mr Smith noting that this allows them to exploit years of apparently clean operating history. "Two extra minutes up front can save you two months of difficulty on the back end," Mr Cornell said, urging forwarders and trucking companies to strengthen verification procedures, train frontline employees and check drivers' identities before releasing shipments.

Continued congestion at ports puts pressure on intra-Asia box rates

Congestion at several ports continues to put upward pressure on intra-Asia container freight rates, despite improving conditions at major Chinese gateways and key transhipment hubs. The result is the Drewry Intra-Asia Container Index (IACI) is up by $46, to $1,504 per 40ft. Spot rates from Greater China to North-east, South-east and South Asia were mostly stable during the week, as major ports, including those in China and Singapore, managed to absorb congestion. However, smaller South-east Asian ports continued to struggle with vessel delays and operational constraints, keeping rates elevated on several tradelanes. Rates from Shanghai to Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, and Laem Chabang remained high and continued to rise. At the end of October, rates from Jakarta to Shanghai were up 9% from the previous week, to $81 per 40ft. The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index on Friday showed the Shanghai-South-east Asia rate up 2% from 30 October, to $1,164 per teu. Jakarta's primary port, Tanjung Priok, is struggling to cope with vessel bunching, because sudden, unscheduled multi-ship arrivals instantly overwhelm bottlenecked roads and container depots that are already at full capacity. One forwarder at Taiwan's Dimerco told The Loadstar Jakarta's landside logistics had not caught up with improvements in terminal capacity. In August, Indonesia state-owned terminal operator Pelindo preliminarily launched Terminal 2 Petikemas. However, construction of New Priok Eastern Access, a new road to improve access, only started in July, and will take 20 months to finish. The forwarder said: "Slow turnaround makes shipping lines reluctant to absorb the costs of repositioning empty containers. This local equipment shortage drives up the prices for available containers." At Ho Chi Minh City, average vessel waiting times have increased from eight to 22 hours over the past fortnight, reflecting worsening congestion at the Vietnamese port. Rates from Shanghai remained unchanged, at $44 per 40ft. In contrast, improving conditions at the major ports resulted in modest rate reductions on some routes. Rates from Shanghai to Singapore fell 3%, to $1,889 per 40ft, while those to Tanjung Pelepas declined 2%, to $2,053 per 40ft. Adding capacity to the Straits-Indonesia trade, Pacific International Lines (PIL) is scheduled to launch its new JKS service today. The fortnightly service will deploy two vessels of between 1,900 and 2,600 teu, calling at Singapore, Laem Chabang and Jakarta.

Transpacific the most profitable container trade by far, says Alphaliner

Carriers are earning up to $1.30 per nautical mile on spot shipments from China to the US west coast, making the transpacific by far the most lucrative major container trade. Alphaliner's latest analysis of spot freight revenue per nautical mile highlights the growing gap between the transpacific and other major trades - returns on China-Europe routes are significantly lower, for example. Spot rates on the Shanghai-USWC route have remained between 3,063 and 3,687 points on the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) since the beginning of July: at around $7,500 per 40ft, current rates translate into revenue of around $1.30 for each of the 5,775 nautical miles of a voyage to Los Angeles, noted Alphaliner. Although still below the Covid-era peak of 5,110 SCFI points, recorded in January 2022, rates are at their highest since July 2024, and comparable with those seen during the pandemic boom. The Shanghai-US East Coast trade is also generating substantial returns, added the analyst, with spot rates remaining above $10,000 per 40ft since late August. This equates to around $0.96 per nautical mile for shipments to New York, via the Panama Canal - comparable with the rates of $10,000-$12,000 recorded between August 2021 and June 2022. And the carriers have responded to the strength of the Pacific market by increasing capacity, said Alphaliner. In late August, MSC upgraded its Asia-USWC Sentosa service, replacing 15,000 teu vessels with those of around 23,600 teu. Zim, which already deploys 52% of its capacity on the trade, is preparing to launch another China-California service, the ZX3, next month. By comparison, Far East-Europe services are generating considerably lower returns. Even using the shorter Suez Canal route, revenue is currently at $0.34 per nautical mile to Rotterdam and $0.50 to Genoa. For carriers continuing to divert vessels around the Cape of Good Hope to North Europe, revenue per nautical mile falls to $0.26, around 24% less due to the additional 3,309 nautical miles sailed. Latin American trades offer better returns than Europe, although they remain below the most lucrative North American routes. Shanghai-Santos currently generates $0.42 per nautical mile, while Shanghai-Manzanillo in Mexico yields $0.91. However, rates on both routes have been volatile over the past six months. Spot rates to Santos have fallen to around half their late-August level, while returns on the Mexico trade have fluctuated between $0.70 and $1.10 per nautical mile. Alphaliner said strong spot rates reflected the continued absence of spare capacity among the major carriers, with port congestion and schedule disruption preventing fleets from operating efficiently. Although carriers have begun returning to Suez Canal routings on Asia-Europe services, the consultancy said it saw no immediate signs of overcapacity, and cautioned that revenue per nautical mile did not tell the whole story, as canal charges and insurance premiums also influenced the economics of individual trades.