Organized cargo thieves are hitting North American supply chains harder—and smarter—than ever. Theft increased by 27% in the United States and Canada in 2024, according to Verisk CargoNet. And it’s been marked in recent years by increasingly sophisticated tactics.
Supply chain theft is bad enough on its own. It’s a problem as evergreen as trade itself. But what’s making it worse? In favor of growth, cost-cutting, and digital transformation initiatives, many chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) are deprioritizing security.
Despite billions in technology investments, most companies still operate on outdated, manual processes that enable fraud. Companies face increasing losses and brand damage, while frontline teams remain under-resourced and overlooked in risk mitigation strategies.
Given the growing threat, this disconnect is untenable. CSCOs must take action against supply chain theft: assessing their risks, and taking concrete steps to mitigate them.
Understanding the risk landscape
When it comes to supply chain theft, there are three types of companies: Those with known fraud issues, those hiding their issues, and those unaware it’s happening.
In fact, many companies only become aware of their theft risk after a significant loss has occurred. It’s not uncommon for supply chain leaders to be uninterested in the threat of theft until, all of a sudden, they’ve had several trailers stolen overnight.
It’s understandable; it’s human nature. We don’t think about our health until we’re sick, and we don’t think about theft until we’ve been robbed.
But CSCOs can’t afford willful blindness. Thankfully, the path forward is clear, and it begins with a thorough risk assessment.
1: Perform a commodity risk audit
The first step in preventing theft is understanding what you have that’s worth stealing. If you’re shipping corrugated paper, you’re in a much safer position than if you’re shipping toiletries, copper, or glass-bottle sodas. The higher the street value of the goods you ship, and the easier they are to resell, the higher your risk.
2: Map your physical chain of custody
Next is to take a good look at the physical lifecycle of your goods and ask, where are the vulnerabilities? Weak points might include unverified transfers, unsecured yards, or dependence on paper-based processes.
To see the risks firsthand, you should literally “walk the yard.” You’ll likely be stunned by what you find: paper check-ins, whiteboards, and double-entry data systems, even at billion-dollar brands. You’ll also realize that the very last person verifying that your expensive shipment is correct is usually a guard clerk from a high-turnover, third-party employer. Only once you’ve witnessed reality, will you be able to fully address it.
3: Consider possible types of fraud
Supply chain leaders must also identify the types of threats their company is dealing with or could possibly face in the future.
Some crimes, like trailer theft, are difficult to miss. But many, from fictitious pickups and case skimming to cyber manipulation, result in shortages that are typically discovered only during inventory or invoicing, sometimes months down the line.
Document manipulation is equally surreptitious. Paper-based bills of lading are incredibly easy to manipulate, with small but significant changes undetectable to the naked eye. It’s the costliest chicken scratch imaginable.
4: Evaluate your data visibility
A supply chain leader once told me, “We might have a $7 million problem, or it might be $20 million. We just don’t know.”
Clearly, that company had insufficient visibility into their own data. CSCOs need to get a grasp of what data is available, as well as how timely and accurate that data is. Can you detect fraud in real time, or only months after the fact? The less you know, the more vulnerable you are.
Building an action plan
Once you’ve assessed your risk for theft, you can begin to protect against it. Here are concrete steps CSCOs can take.
Digitize the chain of custody. Digital transformation efforts often overlook the last mile of documentation. It’s unfathomable that in 2025, the main chain of custody document between Fortune-500 shippers and retailers is a piece of paper. CSCOs should implement electronic bills of lading (eBOLs), which eliminate the risk of document tampering.
Empower from the bottom up. Frontline workers, such as warehouse employees and guards, are vital to theft prevention. These employees see everything, but they’ve never been asked how to fix it.. Consult and empower all your team members to tighten security along every link in the chain.
Leverage continuous improvement teams. Deploy small “tiger teams” to identify quick wins and prioritize issues. Long term, consult with 3PLs, carriers, and insurers to help identify and close larger gaps.
Strengthen partner vetting and contracts. If you’re dealing with double brokering or rarely used carriers, you're asking for trouble. Audit your carrier and broker selection practices—for example, requiring a threshold of successful transactions. While you’re at it, review and tighten your insurance policies and claims processes.
Clarify ownership. Ask yourself, Who owns fraud mitigation at my company? If something goes wrong, it’s all too common for a shipper to place blame on the carrier, or vice versa. Both asset protection and loss prevention teams are typically under-resourced and overwhelmed. And building a case takes significant time. As a result, many companies just sweep theft away, writing off millions of dollars in losses per year.
We can do better. CSCOs must move their companies from rearview mirror investigation to real-time visibility, as well as build a culture of risk awareness, not just compliance.
Implementing change from the ground up
Transformation is never easy, and top-down mandates are rarely welcome, especially in the face of resource strain and burnout. So, it’s high time for CSCOs to ask themselves: What would our operations look like if they were designed by the people who actually run it?
By grounding transformation in frontline insight and taking decisive steps to assess and secure the supply chain, CSCOs can stay one step ahead of theft and drive lasting change.
