Cover Story
Shutterstock . com
that the railroad has been stepping up enforcement in the Southern California basin , including the addition of 62 surveillance cameras and building 10-foot-high concrete walls topped with razor wire along vulnerable tracks .
The railroad ’ s own police reported 2,000 incidents of chasing people away from railcars and 1,100 arrests for theft in Southern California . Even so , he said theft is cropping up further afield in UP ’ s network , which has some 32,000 miles of “ open air ” network to police .
“ It ’ s much more than just Los Angeles – Long Beach ,” Hyder said . “ We saw the first issues pop up there during the COVID crisis . Unfortunately , this has happened around other places in the network .”
Hyder said UP worked with one shipper whose goods were being stolen from containers along the railroad ’ s Southern California to Memphis network , including deploying drones to monitor its railcars . The customer claims its shipments are being targeted specifically
“ It ’ s much more than just Los Angeles – Long Beach .”
for their high value , Hyder said , and that the thefts appear to be coordinated throughout the shipper ’ s supply chain .
“ The customer believes its containers were being tagged at a specific port terminal , and that those shipments are being tracked along the way ,” Hyder said . “ People downstream look for the containers when they stop , then they unleash people to go after these containers .
“ All this individual theft got replaced with large-scale operations ,” he added . “ It is interesting and fascinating , and scary , quite honestly . This has turned into a major crime .”
The ability of thieves to sell goods on third-party e-commerce platforms or websites also fuels the problem , Hyder said , urging online shoppers to be aware of potentially stolen merchandise .
“ If you see a good selling at 30 % or 40 % of what retail price should be , it ’ s probably a stolen good ,” he said .
email : michael . angell @ spglobal . com
What thieves are doing
Craig Ingram , CEO of Asset-Based Intermodal in Dallas , said just as many domestic containers are being hit as international boxes . The company drays containers in Dallas and inspects containers for UP to document the damage for insurance purposes .
“ Two years ago , we handled about 16 to 18 cases for the year ,” Ingram told the Journal of Commerce . “ We ’ re on pace to be around 35 this year , so a 100 % increase since 2022 .”
Criminals are using more heavy-duty equipment to break container locks and seals too , replacing bolt cutters with battery-powered portable grinders . “ Standard locks are no protection at all . These guys can get through them in a couple of minutes ,” Ingram said .
www . joc . com
“ Standard locks are no protection at all . These guys can get through them in a couple of minutes .”
“ You can cut through at least five trailers easily with the grinder before the battery dies ,” he added .
How the crime rings are getting the information is also troubling , often coming from warehouse labor or drivers looking to pocket extra money . In the Nike case , for example , investigators found more than 1,100 text messages or calls between the criminal ringleader and a number registered to a Nike employee in Memphis , according to the Los Angeles Times .
June 17 , 2024 | Journal of Commerce 13