Cargo theft

Description

Shipment Theft A Major Issue In The Shipping Industry.

The issue of theft has become one of the most painful and embarrassing things that shipping business owners face in the shipping world, from changing or swapping of containers or its content to small package theft.

When it comes to the shipping industry, many things are put in place for the day-to-day operations, from getting orders to loading vehicles that will take the order to its point of shipping either by air, land or sea, to ensuring it arrives safely. The end goal of every shipper is to get the product to its customer safely which can be made difficult if there are cases of theft. Shippers are challenged with the task of trying to protect their shipments from theft for the entire length of the complex shipping process.

To understand this article better it is important we know that there are several types of shipping theft which can lead to losses you may face in the shipping industry during transportation, which includes;

Cargo Shrinkage- This is the loss, theft, miscounting or damage of goods in the warehouse. Lost or damaged goods are the most common type of theft.

Cargo Pilferage- This is an act of stealing items of little value by an employee. This causes a reduction in the goods or shipment. This can also breach the trust a customer has for the shipping company if the customer realizes that something has been stolen from its package no matter how little that is.

Cargo Theft- This is the biggest and most expensive kind of theft facing the shipping world. This is defined as the criminal taking of any cargo as the product passes through transiting the cargo from its point of origin to final destination. This is a difficult challenge to manufacturers, suppliers, logistics providers and transportation providers. This also includes cyber theft or documentation theft where the ownership of the cargo and its destination or content of the cargo is tampered with or falsely changed. Items such as electronics, beverages are at the top of most stolen items, followed by household goods and building materials. "Cargo at rest is cargo at risk" ,these thieves take advantage of weekends and holidays when cargos are at rest or unattended to. This mostly happens on Friday because companies are pressured to get cargos off the dock and this rush leads to rush in checkout of documents and credentials.

Many suppliers and businesses want to know how to prevent theft, thankfully there are various ways to reduce the risk of theft and detect early theft intentions. The following steps will show you a few ways of minimizing the threat of theft.

Firstly, Control Your Data: Theft can be pre planned or by chance. Protect your information policies and your organizations information space; wisely consider in-transit security when deciding your routes as well as considering the kind of information you give out on any shipment.

Secondly, be alert and form alliances with law enforcement organizations so as to report any suspicious activities you feel might be going on in your organization or with the shipment on transit. Forming alliances with other cargo companies will help you stay up to date on the latest kind of threat.

Thirdly, Get Your Staff Involved, since a high percentage of theft involves insider information it is wise you do a background check of all employees before they come on board as this could strengthen cargo security within the establishment.

Fourthly, Take Steps to Protect Your Shipments by carefully selecting transportations partners and have control of goods once they leave your company until they reach their destination.

Lastly, Technology, the use of technology cannot be overlooked in the shipping industry. Fitting trailers and cargo with the Internet of Things (IoT) devices can help with tracking of goods and the use of door sensors that record all door activity can provide information if theft occurs and also putting hard locks devices on trailer doors.

With the threat of shipment theft at its highest rate, it is important to use a credible shipping marketplace like www.afodel.com where you meet with verified shipping companies that aims at reducing the cargo theft to its  minimum and move your goods with insurance and  assurance that there would be no form of cargo theft.