Ontario was the second most common region in North America for commercial cargo theft, second only to California, in the first quarter of 2017.
According to CargoNet, there were 358 ‘supply chain risk incidents’ across Canada and the United States to start of 2017. Of those, 58 percent involved theft of a trucking vehicle, while 54 percent involved theft of cargo and 7 percent were classified as fraud.
Typically, Texas follows California as the second-most theft prone jurisdiction, but this time that spot went to Ontario, which saw a whopping 262% year-over-year increase in reported cargo thefts.
Reported crime in the province skyrocketed in the fourth quarter of 2016 and seems to have continued into the first quarter of 2017, CargoNet explained. Most theft reports in the province came from the Greater Toronto area, namely Brampton, Mississauga, and Toronto. Many of the thefts occurred in the same area, and in some cases the same address, CargoNet said.
Overall, reported cargo thefts across the U.S. and Canada during the quarter typically occurred in secured yards, followed by warehouse locations and parking lots.
In terms of product type, food and beverages were the most commonly stolen items during the quarter, accounting for 31 percent of all reported cargo thefts, followed by household items at 15 percent.
Several years ago the The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) and the Canadian Trucking Alliance announced a cargo theft reporting program. The program includes a national database, which is available to all insurance companies and members of all provincial trucking associations across Canada.
With the database, strategic partners can immediately submit cargo loss details to IBC through an online form. The information is then added to a cargo notice report that is distributed to local and national law enforcement, including Canadian and American border agencies. The new database allows for the capture and storage of cargo theft data received from insurance and trucking industry sources and provides 24/7 access for law enforcement agencies.