Cargo Theft Isn’t a Trucking Problem. It’s a National Crisis.

If you watched 60 Minutes Sunday, you saw thieves use frighteningly advanced cyber tactics to steal two truckloads carrying $1 million worth of Guy Fieri and Sammy Hagar’s tequila without ever pulling a gun.  

More than 24,000 bottles of the celebrity duo’s Santo Spirits tequila—nearly four years in the making—never reached their Pennsylvania destination. After leaving Laredo, Texas, two legitimate drivers were duped by thieves posing as company officials into rerouting the load to a fake Los Angeles warehouse. After their convincing impersonation, the criminals also spoofed the trucks’ GPS, ensuring the seven-figure shipment disappeared without a trace. 

While it made for gripping television, it highlights a much larger, more alarming issue. Cargo theft has metastasized into an organized, global enterprise that now costs the U.S. trucking industry $7 billion per year. That’s $19 million every single day. 

Cargo Theft Isn’t a Trucking Problem. It’s a National Crisis. | American Trucking Associations