Officials with the American Trucking Association (ATA) applauded the House Appropriations Committee for their work to fight cargo theft.
As part of the House Appropriations Committee work on the fiscal year 2027 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies funding bill, lawmakers included wording that would begin to establish a unified, federal response to cargo theft. The bill now goes before the full House and would require the U.S. Department of Justice to increase enforcement of cargo theft cases, as well as make a $4 million down payment on the prosecution of cargo theft cases.
“America’s trucking industry delivers billions of tons of goods to every community, and those essential shipments have increasingly become prime targets for organized crime, putting truck drivers at risk and raising costs for consumers,” American Trucking Associations Chief Advocacy & Public Affairs Officer, Henry Hanscom, said. “ATA commends the House Appropriations Committee for directing the DOJ to leverage its enforcement capabilities to pursue criminals operating across borders. This directive and funding will strengthen the partnership between the government, law enforcement, motor carriers, and our supply chain partners to strike an effective blow against these organized theft groups.”
Officials said the initiative would complement the framework created by the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, endorsed by ATA, that passed the House earlier this month. Together, the FY27 appropriations bill and the CORCA bill would help counter the rise in cargo theft and supply chain fraud, officials said.
The appropriations bill included language that directed the DOJ to provide a briefing within 120 days on its plans to establish regional task forces led by the FBI and in partnership with TSA, USDOT, and federal, state, and local law enforcement to investigate and refer cases for prosecution. The bill allocated $2 million to support the establishment of the task forces. Additionally, the legislation directs the executive office of the U.S. Attorneys to submit a report within 90 days identifying U.S. Attorneys’ Offices with the highest rates of cargo theft and for those offices to assign at least one additional attorney to cargo theft prosecutions.
The American Transportation Research Institute calculates that cargo theft is costing the trucking industry more than $18 million per day, and that strategic theft, identity theft and fraudulent documentation to divert freight has surged by 1,500 percent since 2021.