Members of the American Trucking Association’s Law Enforcement Advisory Board are urging Congressional leaders to pass legislation aiming to crack down on cargo theft.
In a letter to leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as the chair and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, LEAB said it strongly supported the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act which aims at helping law enforcement connect the dots when it comes to solving crimes that target the supply chain. Made up of current and former public safety officials, the group wrote that it hopes the legislation will pass soon.
“Cargo theft is not merely a property crime—it is a growing public safety threat that endangers drivers, law enforcement personnel, and the traveling public,” the LEAB leaders wrote. “Those of us charged with protecting commercial motor vehicle operations see firsthand how organized theft groups target freight corridors, distribution hubs, and drivers. Federal coordination is indispensable to confronting this threat and ensuring the safety of our transportation system.”
The legislation passed out of the House Judiciary Committee in January and is now cosponsored by half of both the House and Senate. The bill would strengthen law enforcement’s capabilities to dismantle organized theft rings, and would foster coordination among federal, state and local agencies.
Sponsors of the legislation have said it would curtail cargo theft. The American Transportation Research Institute has found that cargo theft is costing the trucking industry more than $18 million per day. Strategic theft, crime that uses cyber fraud and identity manipulation to divert freight, has surged by 1,500 percent since 2021, ATA said.
“Swift passage of this critical legislation will provide law enforcement with the federal partnership we urgently need to protect drivers, safeguard freight corridors, and secure the nation’s supply chains,” the leaders of LEAB concluded.