Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.
Cargo theft has traditionally been a local and low-tech affair. Typically thieves snatch a
product-laden trailer from a yard and then fence the stolen goods. The criminals are often tipped
off by a disgruntled or terminated employee looking for a quick payday—or are employees themselves.
On-the-road hijackings, long the stuff of organized crime lore, are actually a rarity.
Yard heists are still the leading type of theft. But in recent years, they have been joined by two new strains:
fictitious and fraudulent pickups. Both involve a level of technological acumen generally not required to ply the
trade the old-fashioned way. Both can have an international component to them with counterfeit but lifelike commercial
driver licenses created online as far away as China. And they are increasingly the modus operandi of tech-savvy criminals
who find this approach less risky than traditional theft.
The two terms are often used interchangeably. But there is a key distinction: Fictitious pickups involve goods
pilfered using fake identifications and sham businesses set up to divert and steal cargo. Fraudulent pickups are
typically defined as the taking of funds instead of cargo; an example would be the theft of cash advances used for such
essential expenditures as diesel fuel.
However they are sliced, both constitute fraud. As far as fictitious pickups are concerned, the practice
is becoming more commonplace. A study
by two security groups, CargoNet and the Cargo Security Alliance, found
that 51 fictitious pickups were reported nationwide through August, equal to 8 percent of the 605 total thefts
reported through the first eight months. For all of 2012, fictitious pickups accounted for 74 reported thefts
nationwide, or 6 percent of the total reported number of 1,195 reported thefts. In 2011, that figure was 5 percent.
The data represents thefts reported to CargoNet, an organization formed by Verisk Analytics, a Jersey City,
N.J.-based risk assessment concern, and the nonprofit National Insurance Crime Bureau. CargoNet was created to
help reduce theft and increase recovery efforts by allowing victims, their business partners, and law enforcement
to share information about crimes.
Because victims are reluctant to publicize incidents of fictitious pickups or cargo theft in general for fear they might
reflect badly on their security programs, crimes often go underreported, according to the report's authors, Walt Beadling,
managing partner of Cargo Security Alliance, and Keith Lewis, vice president of operations at CargoNet.
According to the report, more than half of the fictitious pickups so far this year have occurred on Thursdays and Fridays.
This isn't surprising, the authors contend, because those are the days that shippers are heavily pressured to rush cargo out
the door to meet delivery deadlines and may not be focused on who is picking up the goods.
California, long a popular state for cargo theft given its size and proximity to international border crossings, is home
to nearly 60 percent of all fictitious pickup incidents reported so far in 2013. That is more than the next nine states
combined, the report said. There were 35 loads stolen in California as a result of fictitious pickups during 2012, down
from 51 loads in 2011, according to data from the California Highway Patrol's (CHP) Cargo Theft Interdiction Program.
However, the decline was offset by increased activity in states like Texas and Nebraska, where a number of arrests
involved alleged perpetrators holding California residency, CHP said. For the first nine months of 2013, 45 loads were
reported stolen in the state, reflecting a pickup in activity from the prior year, the CHP data show.
The loads reported stolen in California through fraudulent activity accounted for 10 percent of all reported stolen loads
last year, the data show. From 2010 to 2011, the number of loads reported stolen due to fraud increased tenfold, according to
the CHP data.
As they were in 2012, food and beverage items have been the most popular commodities targeted both for fictitious pickups
and for overall cargo theft this year, according to the Cargo Security Alliance/CargoNet study. The value of stolen loads in
general averages about $150,000 per load, according to Beadling. He doesn't have hard numbers on the value of goods snatched
in a fictitious pickup.
NEW ERA, NEW RULES
A decade ago, such new-age forms of cargo theft were nonexistent. There was little need for identity verification because
transactions were based on long-standing relationships and contracts were signed in face-to-face meetings, the report said.
Fraud-based theft emerged with the advent of digital processes that spawned new techniques of faceless chicanery. Digitization
enabled thieves to expand their own unique supply chains, putting cohorts in offshore markets to work creating digital versions of
CDLs that eerily resemble the real thing, Beadling contends.
Today, it is relatively easy and inexpensive to create a dummy company by using prepaid cell phones and credit cards that
eliminate any way to trace identities or payment history. Obtaining a P.O. Box and a federal tax I.D. number is equally easy,
according to the report. Sham companies can register with the U.S. Department of Transportation, obtain interstate operating
authority, and get liability insurance online, the report said. Rented or stolen rigs can easily be masked by bogus placards,
and drivers are able to obtain fake uniforms.
Once equipped, the thieves hit the Internet load boards, find an unsuspecting broker with a load to tender, and get busy. Late
Friday afternoon pickups are preferred because shippers are particularly anxious by that time to move product, according to the
report. The fake drivers tender their paperwork, take the load, and then depart. After one or two perfunctory phone calls to the
shipper or broker to notify them they are "en route," the thieves are gone for good.
Many crooks are former employees of trucking and logistics companies, the study found. In one case, a recently terminated
driver absconded with a customer's load by arriving in advance of the former employer's assigned driver, the report said.
The bad guys' task is made easier by trusting brokers who will "readily turn over a trailer with $1 million of tablet computers
to someone they've never met," the authors wrote.
The report augments its findings with two illustrations so laughable that only an imbecile on the loading dock could miss them.
One shows a rig with a placard that misspells the word "trucking." The other is an image of a falsified CDL with photos of two
people on it.
The report suggests shippers employ several common-sense remedies. These include subscribing to services that issue daily
reports of fictitious pickups in a specific area or region; communicating frequently with all supply chain partners; insisting
that carriers follow all security guidelines and, if noncompliant, assume responsibility for the full value of lost or stolen
cargo; vetting carriers and drivers by performing various background checks; and investing in monitoring tools to ensure an
unbroken chain of custody.
In the case of driver vetting—perhaps the most crucial part of the process because it is the last time the shipper
sees the cargo—shippers should require at least two forms of identification, the authors said. One overlooked form of
identity verification is a driver's government-issued medical examiner's certificate, they said. "All drivers are required to
have one, but no one thinks of asking for it," they wrote.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.