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A shift in goods being swiped by cargo thieves indicates that criminals targeting the trucking industry are returning to pre-pandemic activity.

LOS ANGELES — Thieves have been raiding cargo containers aboard trains nearing downtown Los Angeles for months, taking packages belonging to people across the U.S. and leaving the tracks blanketed with discarded boxes.

The Fourth of July holiday weekend could see an increase in cargo thefts based on trends of past years, according to theft prevention and recovery service CargoNet.

The trucking industry has seen a surge in cargo thefts since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to experts.

A new panel of truckers will advise American Trucking Associations’ federation on ways to “grow and strengthen” relationships between the trucking industry and law enforcement organizations nationwide.

As if 2020 wasn't difficult enough for trucking, the industry also saw a substantial rise in cargo theft. Here's what some fleets are doing to fight it.

Though cargo theft is a year-round problem for trucking, it is more of a concern around the July Fourth holiday, according to a report by CargoNet.

Two national cargo theft reports found that top targets for thieves during the third quarter included food and beverages, electronics and nonconsumable household goods such as vacuum cleaners and cleaning products, but while one report found an increase in thefts, the other reported a decline.

Cargo thefts are down 14% in the second quarter of 2019, with 150 incidents in the United States and Canada, according to CargoNet, a subsidiary of Verisk Analytics Inc. of Jersey City, N.J.

During the first quarter of this year, cargo thefts in the United States rose 25% to 144 reported incidents, with the average loss for each occurrence rising 1% to $116,717, according to a report from the SensiGuard Supply Chain Intelligence Center.