Cover Story
Organized criminal gangs have been using technology to target specific shipments and goods for theft and fraud . Shutterstock . com
Ingram said he ’ s also been involved in cases where the evidence suggested an inside job .
Indeed , the visibility and transparency that intermodal and trucking shippers need to manage supply chains can also be turned against those supply chains .
“ I can pull up 100 containers right now , look at the bill of lading , and see everything in the container by [ stock keeping unit ] number , by serial number , what train it is on and when it ’ s going to arrive ,” Ingram explained . “ That ’ s scary , and it is information available to the person loading the container and the trucker . It doesn ’ t take much to take a picture with a smartphone of the bill of lading , call up his buddy to share the information and get extra money on the side .”
Protecting the cargo
Unfortunately , there are no perfect answers for how to combat organized theft .
There are high-end locking pins with brand names such as the Enforcer , the Goliath , the Hercules and the War-Lok , among others , designed to withstand attacks . Each comes with a specialized key , however , so it ’ s not a viable option for exporters sending products overseas .
The retail shipper that spoke to the Journal of Commerce anonymously said it uses specialized locks on containers traveling between New Jersey and California . Out of 175 attempts to defeat the specialized lock , only one has succeeded , the source said . The others showed evidence of tampering , but the locks remained intact .
The retailer source said companies like Hub Group , J . B . Hunt Transport Services , Schneider National , STG
Logistics and Swift Intermodal should buy a fleet of specialized locks and provide the option to shippers for a fee .
“ The carriers can put the locks on their containers at origin , then remove them at the destination railyard and deliver the cargo ,” the shipper said . “ If I was one of the intermodal carriers , I would sign a deal with one of these companies to get a bunch of locks . Then I can tell the customers ‘ We ’ re taking this extra step for every box that you ’ re moving to show that we ’ re doing what we can to keep the cargo safe .’ It ’ s a selling point that they can use to win business .”
“ There will be a train with 100 containers , and they know which box has the Nike shoes in it .”
One reason asset-based carriers don ’ t sell the lock service openly is that the specialized locks are an obvious sign that the cargo inside the container is valuable , essentially putting a target on the box . Instead , the five large US domestic intermodal service providers have focused their efforts on other measures , such as putting valuable cargo in the bottom well of a double-stack train . The bottom well is built into the railcar itself , so it ’ s impossible to open the door .
email : ari . ashe @ spglobal . com
14 Journal of Commerce | June 17 , 2024 www . joc . com