Cargo theft losses shot up in 2025

Cargo theft can be a real financial headache—and not the localized tension type of headache. We’re talking about a financial-migraine situation.

Beyond the obvious potential losses incurred when products are stolen, cargo theft can have downstream effects such as raising insurance costs or more restrictive coverage.

So the fact that losses from cargo theft shot up 60% year over year in 2025, according to one firm’s estimate, should have CFOs reaching for some extra-strength Tylenol.

This uptick is according to new analysis from cargo-theft prevention and recovery network Verisk CargoNet, which reported that estimated cargo-theft losses totaled about $725 million last year in the US and Canada.

Other organizations, including the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), have sounded the alarm in recent months on the pickup in cargo theft. “The impacts, including increased costs, are felt from Main Street to Wall Street,” David Glawe, president and CEO of NICB, said in testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee back in July.

Cargo theft has costly consequences throughout the supply chain. It costs motor carriers $520,000 and logistics service providers $1.84 million on average annually, according to recent research from the American Transportation Research Institute.

Driving the losses higher in 2025 was the major difference in the goods thieves targeted. Organized criminal groups focused more on high-value shipments, including technology products like storage drives and computing equipment, according to CargoNet. The average theft value increased 36% last year to roughly $274,000.

“Criminal enterprises are becoming more selective and sophisticated, targeting extremely high value shipments rather than relying on opportunistic theft,” Keith Lewis, vice president of operations at Verisk CargoNet, said in a news release. “This strategic shift explains how losses can rise 60 %t even as overall incident volume holds steady.”

Moving targets. CargoNet noted other shifts in theft activity last year.

California remained a central target of thieves, but incidents of theft picked up significantly in states like New Jersey (50% increase), Indiana (30% increase), and Pennsylvania (24% increase).

Thefts also shifted more toward commodities like food and beverage products, which saw a 47% YoY increase. Metal theft increased 77%, “driven by ongoing demand for copper products,” according to CargoNet.