Forty percent of U.S. loss prevention and organized retail crime prevention leaders surveyed for SmartSense by Digi say their organizations lose at least $1 million a year to cargo theft, and 28% put annual losses above $2 million, according to a report the monitoring technology company released Sept. 24, 2026. Research firm Coleman Parkes conducted the survey of 150 U.S.-based professionals in August 2026 on the company’s behalf.
Respondents most often named fraudulent pickups and carrier impersonation (78%) as a tactic of concern, followed by GPS jamming or spoofing (71%), trailer theft (66%) and double brokering (64%). Sixty-three percent said incidents rose compared with last year, and 81% said cargo theft has become more organized.
The results also point to a reporting gap: only 37% said they regularly report incidents and work directly with law enforcement, even as 70% said their organizations are spending more on prevention this year. The findings reflect self-reported views gathered by a vendor of cargo monitoring technology rather than incident data.
Sources
- SmartSense by Digi: “SmartSense Cargo Theft Report: The Supply Chain Under Siege” (Sept. 24, 2026)
- SmartSense by Digi press release via Business Wire: “SmartSense Report: 79% of Loss and Organized Retail Crime Prevention Leaders More Concerned About Cargo Theft Than Ever Before” (Sept. 24, 2026)
- FreightWaves: “40% of loss prevention professionals report annual cargo theft losses topping $1M” (Sept. 24, 2026)
