Fewer Cargo Thefts, Twice the Losses

Cargo theft is changing shape across North America, and the latest numbers are worth a second look.

Verisk CargoNet recorded 677 cargo theft incidents in the United States and Canada during the second quarter of 2026. That is a 26% drop compared to the same period last year, and a 14% drop from the first quarter.

Estimated losses moved in the opposite direction. They climbed to US$304.6 million, more than double the US$135.7 million recorded in the second quarter of 2025. The average reported loss reached US$564,009, pushed up by several multi-million-dollar incidents.

The explanation comes down to what is being targeted. Organized criminal groups are increasingly going after high-value freight, particularly metals and business technology equipment. Metal thefts alone rose from 54 incidents to 80 year over year, with copper the most frequently targeted. Keith Lewis, vice-president of operations at Verisk CargoNet, cautions that the drop in incident volume should not be read as a drop in risk.

The Canadian picture

The trend north of the border points the same way. Équité Association estimates that the number of trailers stolen in Canada rose from roughly 570 in 2024 to close to 970 in 2025, nearly double in a single year.

Ontario recorded approximately 1,601 thefts in 2025 across tractors, trailers and cargo combined, with the Peel Region and the Greater Toronto Area accounting for a significant share. Quebec recorded roughly 180.

Recovery rates are also sliding. The national cargo recovery rate fell from 13% in 2024 to 9% in 2025, and the trailer recovery rate dropped from 64% to 44%. Équité also believes a significant share of cargo thefts go unreported, which means the real scale of the problem is likely larger than the published figures suggest.

The methods have moved on

Stealing a trailer from a rest stop is no longer the main play. Criminal organizations now infiltrate supply chains using fictitious carriers, fraudulent brokers, stolen identities and compromised email accounts to redirect shipments before anyone notices.

While physical thefts of loaded equipment declined sharply in Q2, compromise-based schemes such as business email fraud and shipment misdirection held steady. These are logistics-side attacks as much as physical ones, and they scale in a way that yard thefts never did.

What it means for fleets

For fleet managers, the useful question shifts. Counting incidents tells you less than it used to.

What matters now is the value exposed on each individual load, and how much of your booking and dispatch process depends on verifying that the party picking up the freight is who they claim to be.

Sources

September 02, 2026 — Marc Dion
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