Stakeholders Urge Congress to Take Action on Cargo Theft
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WASHINGTON — A stakeholder representing on Feb. 27 shared with a Senate panel ongoing industry concerns associated with an increase in cargo theft afflicting the nation’s supply chain.
Adam Blanchard, principal and CEO of Texas-based Tanager Logistics and Double Diamond Transport, pointed to vulnerabilities industrywide caused by entities engaging in criminal activities. Testifying before the Senate Surface Transportation, Freight, Pipelines and Safety Subcommittee, he explained cargo theft is now a crisis, costing the industry as much as $35 billion annually.
“Trucking is a tough business, and we have no shortage of grit and determination. But our industry is not equipped to deal with organized theft groups on our own,” Blanchard told senators. “We need help from federal agencies and law enforcement with the resources and advanced technical capabilities to take this on. We implore Congress to provide resources and direction to pursue criminals who are exploiting small businesses that families spent years, decades or even generations to build.”
In an interview with Transport Topics before the hearing, he emphasized: “Cargo theft is becoming an increasingly more prevalent issue in our industry that is becoming much more sophisticated and, frankly, is the sophistication of these criminal organizations that, from what we can tell, oftentimes exist outside of the United States or are going relatively unchecked. And so there’s a tremendous amount of loss that’s happening to our industry and the people that we serve.”
MORE: How Brokers, Carriers and Shippers Are Fighting Theft and Fraud
Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), chairman of the subcommittee, agreed that the industry is enduring an ongoing threat with the potential of long-term impacts to the flow of commerce and the economy. The senator signaled the potential for legislation seeking to increase coordination and enforcement on the part of federal agencies. This year, the congressional transportation committees plan to draft multiyear highway measures.
Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), chairman of theSenate Surface Transportation, Freight, Pipelines and Safety Subcommittee. (Todd Young via YouTube)
As the chairman put it, “The increased threat of strategic cargo theft is threatening our supply chains and hurting American businesses and consumers. Organized crime units are operating from not only within the U.S. but also internationally from Armenia, Colombia and Mexico and targeting high-value goods to steal and finance their illegal activities like drug smuggling.”
The chairman garnered bipartisan support for his agenda. “I don’t believe that these issues — law enforcement or addressing cargo theft — should be partisan in any way. Crimes in our freight supply chain can harm consumers, small businesses, transportation workers and our economy,” said Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the subcommittee’s ranking member.
At the hearing, Blanchard and other freight stakeholders endorsed the industry’s push for passage of several bills designed to protect the freight workforce and improve the flow of freight. One of the measures is the Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act, which would boost certain guidelines at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to help reassure individuals about consumer protections in place for moves made around the country.
“We cannot allow bad actors in the shipping and moving industry to violate consumer trust and harm our nation’s supply chain,” Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the freight policy committee and the bill’s co-lead sponsor, said Jan. 30. “Our bipartisan, bicameral legislation will give the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration the tools they need to hold these thieves accountable.”
Hilton and Hanscom
In a statement accompanying the bill’s introduction, ATA Senior Vice President of Legislative Affairs Henry Hanscom and Executive Director Dan Hilton said: “By creating additional tools to crack down on scammers, their legislation will help Americans have greater confidence that the moving professionals they entrust with their valuable possessions are experienced, honest and reliable.”
House lawmakers are renewing efforts to respond to growing threats related to cargo theft. Last year, House funding leaders sought to establish a Supply Chain Fraud and Theft Task Force designed to respond to the sharp rise in cargo theft and broader supply chain fraud.
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According to background information ATA provided, cargo theft disrupts supply chains with the potential for endangering the freight workforce. With cargo theft and cyberthreats atop of ATA’s strategic priorities, the federation’s leadership pressed Congress to incorporate various proposals in upcoming comprehensive transportation legislation.
In a statement to a House committee earlier this year, ATA Chairman Dennis Dellinger, CEO of Claremont, N.C.-based Cargo Transporters, affirmed, “Investing in freight infrastructure, enacting thoughtful federal safety and environmental regulations, growing the supply chain workforce and protecting entrepreneurship are all areas where our supply chains can benefit from congressional action.”
RELATED: ATA Chairman Dellinger Presses Truck Excise Tax Repeal
“The 119th Congress,” the ATA chairman went on, “has an opportunity to enact transformational legislation that will speed our economic growth, empower entrepreneurs and ensure that American infrastructure is the envy of the world. The trucking industry welcomes every opportunity to work hand in hand with Congress and the new administration on those efforts.”
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