Incident: Driver Confrontation During Pilferage  

For several months, Overhaul has been warning about the anecdotal increases in violence and driver confrontation in the commission of cargo theft. Over this past weekend, an incident that highlights this worrying trend occurred in the Chicago, IL area. 

The driver had arrived the evening before his scheduled delivery of consumer electronics and staged outside of the delivery facility. During this time, several actors pilfered 259 cases from the back of the trailer. The driver noticed and reported this before proceeding to move to a more populated area for the remainder of time before delivery.  

As the driver was leaving, the same actors returned, now with several additional accomplices, presumably to pilfer more cargo from the trailer. The suspects attempted to surround the tractor with their vehicles, but the driver was able to evade them. The suspects followed the driver for a time, until he approached a populated and well-lit truck stop.  

Pilferage while staged overnight outside of delivery locations has long been an issue in the Chicago area. Local criminals are aware of what product moves through what facilities and will frequently target trailers parked outside for a potential quick score.  

This tactic appears to have escalated to the point where if desirable product is found, rather than take as much as they can carry in at one time, criminals will call in reinforcements to take as much as possible and include driver confrontation and the potential for violence would have been high had the driver been caught outside of the rig. 

Overhaul also recommends that all shipments destined for Chicago (and other Metro-area intermodal chokepoints) NOT stage outside of delivery locations. It is also advised NOT to stage in nearby industrial areas (ex: Lamar Blvd in Memphis, Fulton Industrial Blvd in Atlanta), as criminals often operate in these areas as well.  

Additionally, Drivers should be briefed on the potential for these types of incidents and every effort should be made to arrive to the delivery area on the day of scheduled delivery to prevent unnecessary staging in the area.  

With all theft methods, contextual intelligence, remote compliance monitoring, and real time visibility are critical to preventing cargo theft. An immediate escalation process with a path to effective law enforcement engagement is critical to recognizing and recovering cargo once it has been stolen.