Ports & Infrastructure

Three steps toward mitigating
container theft

By Peter Hull

On a typically steamy September day in Charleston, S.C., someone walked into Zoom Transport’s yard and, in broad daylight, drove off with a 1990 Freightliner cab.
The grand theft cargo followed an equally brazen grab earlier in the year when closed circuit television cameras at a neighboring container yard filmed thieves drive in an empty rig, load a container, and drive away.

Stopping Theft — No Simple Matter

Policing container theft is sketchy at best, as individual incidents are reported to various local, state, or federal authorities.

Stopping thieves at the gates isn’t as simple as a strong chain and padlock. Fences, cameras, and a well-lit yard all serve as deterrents, but many times cargo is stolen while in transit.

Often, particular containers are targeted because the thieves know their contents. On other occasions, the thefts appear totally random, with empty containers often the target.

Drugs hidden in a container is one common motive for theft. Boxes holding footwear, apparel, electronics, or vehicle tires are also popular targets.

Become Proactive

So are cargo yards and transportation companies a ticking clock, or can operators stop thieves from helping themselves?

Cargo Business News sat down with Richard Booth, business development manager for logistics security firm FreightWatch International USA, to discuss the importance of layered security systems.

After all, Booth says, yards and freight forwarding companies know the value of cargo shipments — and so do criminals.

Three-layered System

At the end of the day, distribution organizations should have three security practices to protect in-transit goods, Booth says.

1. A documented set of freight security requirements.

The first layer is a comprehensive set of freight security requirements. This is a document that details internal supply-chain security procedures that all employees must follow as part of their daily operations.

Typical requirements include managing physical and technical security systems; controlling access to distribution centers; alerting recipients of cargo estimated arrival times; and guidelines for refueling and rest breaks.

Documenting these procedures, communicating them on a regular basis, and integrating them into daily operations will add those additional layers of security required in today’s high-theft environment, Booth says.
 
2. “Standards of Care” for transport vendors

The next protective layer, Booth says, is a contractually binding standards-of-care, or SOC, that specifies how you want your carrier to handle your product.
SOCs define the standards by which providers must transport your products, and they include provisions for carrier compliance with your requirements. This would include whether double-brokering is permitted, or if loads can be staged.

These standards extend your security strategy from the gates of your distribution facilities to the entire in-transit supply chain.
 
3. Monitor carrier performance against company security objectives

Booth’s final security layer is to monitor compliance to your SOCs. In other words, you need to know if carriers are complying with your standards of care, and whether employees at all facilities are adhering to corporate freight security requirements.
Supply-chain audits and compliance review sessions are some ways to evaluate performance against your security objectives. Technology such as covert tracking devices provides objective oversight for the entire distribution operation.
Criminals can steal unattended trailers in seconds, Booth says. Skipping any of these key practices leaves your organization vulnerable to full-trailer load cargo theft.

Richard Booth can be contacted at (805) 453-0386 or at richard.booth@freightwatchusa.com.