Securing the Freight Supply Chain: Key Event Takeaways
Convening
On September 9, 2025, the University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies convened representatives from multiple leading companies alongside public and academic partners at "Securing the Freight Supply Chain: Addressing Cargo Theft and Fraud," a workshop and public event to discuss the interconnected issues of theft and fraud in the cargo and freight system. This growing issue affects nearly every American company and jurisdiction. It also impacts American consumers. Overall, freight fraud accounts for billions of dollars in losses and inefficiencies, jeopardizes the supply chain, and affects consumers. A coordinated public-private approach is necessary to address these challenges.
Key Issues
- Since 2021, theft and fraud in the supply chain has rapidly escalated, with a multitude of crimes being committed by sophisticated, multi-national criminal actors, among others.
- Suppliers are paying double or triple costs as victims. They lose goods and often do not get full compensation from insurance. These public losses can impact a company’s value.
- Carriers see their reputations damaged through identity theft and fraud, leading to systemic under-reporting. This contributes to a general lack of understanding of the scope and gravity of the problem.
- The cargo/retail supply chain is rife with complicated custody and juncture points. Long supply chains mean that multiple entities can be involved in a single load. The addition of third parties has led to greater exposure to fraud.
- Reporting, enforcement, and prosecution of these crimes lacks a central point of coordination at both the local and national levels, contributing to a lack of action.
Key Needs
- A more comprehensive view of the problem through the collection and communication of real-time, anonymized, and aggregated theft and fraud data.
- Victims of theft and fraud should be able to provide data through a secure reporting system operated by an independent third party.
- This should be accompanied by a consolidated governmental approach to data and action, which includes allowing information sharing between jurisdictions, national tracking, and consideration of a federal "home" to coordinate responses.
- Establishment of legal jurisdiction and venue of prosecution clarity for theft and fraud cases in order to facilitate effective and timely prosecution.
- Regulatory standardization to ensure the validity of registration, verifications, and identity security.
- Wide-ranging education and awareness.
- Training on security and threats within businesses and with partners.
- Education for policymakers on the escalating scale and pace of these issues: Focusing on impacts on the supply chain, economic competitiveness, and consumers.
- Public awareness around the impact that theft has on household budgets and on the goods the public can access.
- Education for local law enforcement on how to recognize and build cargo theft cases—and how to coordinate with local companies and prosecutors.
Potential Areas of Action
National Level
- Support dedicated resources to address cargo/retail theft, including the establishment of a point agency within the federal government.
- Federal agencies can provide clear prioritization for the issue to ensure local attention and action on enforcement and prosecution.
- Support federal efforts to modernize registration systems that reduce identity theft.
- Learn from federal efforts such as the Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) tool and consider replicating this model for local application.
State Level
- Support dedicated resources to address cargo/retail theft through investigation, enforcement, and prosecution. Should also address data protections to enable data-sharing by victims.
- Develop a state-level FLOW model focused on cargo/freight security.
- Coordination with local agencies and companies on the response to fraud.
- Identify existing processes or protocols where additional levels of security or review are possible (CDL registrations, DOT certifications, DPS securement checks).
Companies
- Support data sharing efforts across the industry.
- Technology sharing discussions among peers and up and down the supply chain. Shared investments with companies in every role to minimize holes and low-security areas.
- Engage in efforts to understand issues and reduce vulnerabilities around double brokering. Stay informed on federal regulations that may address it.
- Embrace standardization of third-party processes through the Transit Asset Protection Association (TAPA) or Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) industry standards.
- Build relationships with state and local law enforcement in hot spots.
Shared
- Consider ways to offer security training to companies of all sizes.
- Share information and collaborate to stay informed on changing criminal tactics.
- Exploration of public-private funding models for enforcement, security, and data sharing.
- Explore all opportunities to close gaps within the system.
- Include others in the conversation, such as insurance, banking (lessons learned), anti-fraud technology providers, and third party brokers.