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An expanding collaboration between the Transportation Intermediaries Association and the FBI aims to broaden information sharing to combat the rising threat of cargo theft in the logistics sector.

The freight brokers and third-party logistics companies that comprise TIA membership have been reporting increases in traditional and more strategic theft activity across the supply chain.

“We have 1,800 companies within TIA that we’re hearing from on a daily basis about these problems,” TIA President Chris Burroughs told Transport Topics.

To help, the FBI has been working with the association to streamline relaying of information and reports from TIA members about theft activity.

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“We’ve got a contact at the FBI out of the Philadelphia field office — he is extremely knowledgeable about the industry,” Burroughs said. “He knows the industry, knows what’s going on. They’ve developed a bit of a cargo theft task force out of Philly comprised of about six individuals who are really spearheading this operation.”

TIA is channeling information to federal investigators via a hotline that members use to keep the association apprised of how theft schemes evolve, Burroughs noted.

He told the FBI, “You give us the data points that are most pertinent for you guys, we’ll aggregate all that together, we’ll send it over to you, quickly, and let’s try to get some arrests. Let’s try to get some of these bad guys out of the marketplace.”

Burroughs stressed that while working closely with federal investigators is valuable for the association and the industry, it’s not solely his members that are being hurt; companies across the transportation space are feeling the pain, as are consumers.

“We’re excited that this field office in Philly has really stepped up,” Burroughs said. “They are very knowledgeable of the industry. They have the hierarchy, if you will, in terms of the bad guys that are out there. They didn’t share any specifics about where they are, what their names are — they know who some of the folks are in terms of the investigative process. But we’re excited that the law enforcement community is paying attention to this.”

CDL Fraud a Factor

Burroughs stressed that many lower-level thefts reported by members — where individuals simply steal a load or a truck — are sometimes being perpetrated by people with fraudulent non-domiciled commercial driver licenses.

Access to such false credentials offers criminals a way to operate within the supply chain, but Burroughs is hopeful that continued collaboration with federal law enforcement will help to push back on these efforts, too.

“They outline some of the schemes and frauds that they’re seeing pretty consistently, and I would say tips and tricks — things to be aware of.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation has increased its focus on states’ compliance with issuance of non-domiciled CDLs as well as English-language proficiency, moves Burroughs said are warranted.

“Our hope is that the more and more that we keep talking about it as an organization, and the collaboration that we’re doing, action finally will happen,” he said. “I think that action is happening at the Department of Transportation. You’re seeing that with Secretary [Sean] Duffy and some of the stuff he’s doing with non-domiciled CDLs, English-language proficiency. Those are all safety aspects, but it’s also fraudulent.”