Avoiding Cargo Theft at the Point of Loading & Unloading
$10 billion a year in inventory is stolen at shipping and receiving areas in the U.S. alone. How can you protect your operations?
Cargo theft
occurs in freight forwarding yards, warehouses and during transportation
in trucks, airfreight, and ships.
Worldwide, the direct cost of cargo theft exceeds $30 billion annually and
$10 billion in the United States alone, with indirect costs many times
higher. On top of the cargo costs, losses are amplified by double or more
due to investigative and insurance costs.
For a business
operating on a just-in-time basis, freight loss can be an extreme problem
that threatens profitability and viability. According to a study done by
the Australian Institute of Criminology, 87 percent of these losses are
inflicted at the road transport level, where warehousers, shippers, and
receivers of goods are most at risk.
Almost any warehouse has something people want, although items such as
electronics, footwear, clothing, prescription drugs, computers, jewelry,
tobacco, and media such as DVD discs are especially coveted. But nearly
anything can be at risk.
The most common method employed to steal cargo involves a truck driver
working with a warehouse employee. Working together, these parties can
easily break a chain of awareness that shippers and receivers put into
place and obscure exactly when the theft may have occurred.
Cargo is at its greatest risk when it’s being loaded and unloaded. It can
be carted off while a driver’s attention is diverted. “Short” orders can
be loaded, or loose cargo can be concealed for later removal, according to
the AIC report. This timeframe is particularly chaotic, involving people
who are mostly concerned with getting the truck unloaded and away from the
dock, not with security at any conscious level.
Especially since the 2004 Hours of Service working rules change,
warehouses and distribution centers are more concerned than ever with the
speed at which they load or unload a truck. Unfortunately, this focus on
loading speed also makes trucks and warehouses more vulnerable to theft
and pilferage.
What can you do?
Experts say that besides being thorough in your hiring process—certainly something you should do, but something that’s not bulletproof—there are several common-sense steps you can take.
Harden the Target
Restrict access to your shipping and receiving areas: This is the point of vulnerability, where confusion and opportunity may meet and allow thieves an opportunity. Be sure everyone in the area has proper identification and is supposed to be there. It’s all about access: you need to control who has it and who doesn’t. If the trucker isn’t involved in unloading, don’t let him loiter in the area; consider providing a lounge area away from inventory and loading docks if possible.
Secure your storage areas
Utilize security partitions, cages, and security cabinets to lock up things that are particularly desirable to thieves as quickly as possible when they are received. Keep them locked up until you must unlock them before shipping.
A number of
available accessories can
transform standard pallet racking and shelving into secure areas that
you can control. Move cargo from receiving into these secure devices as
soon as possible. On the shipping side, move it from them into trucks in
the same, quick manner. Don't let things sit around the dock doors
unattended and unlocked.
Make sure all doors and windows have locks. Going further, consider the
reason a particular door or window exists at all. When it isn’t being used
for business reasons or safety reasons, why keep it at all? You should
consult safety experts in advance of permanently sealing a door.
Get involved with the process
Nothing is more
effective than watching and participating at random. Go to the docks, talk
to people, make sure they know you know who they are and what they’re
doing. This doesn’t have to be an onerous process—a friendly conversation
works wonders. Criminals play a percentage game. They won’t steal if the
percentages shift, even a little. The presence of a watcher can help to do
that and make them wary for days.
Make sure merchandise isn’t left unattended for long periods of time. It’s
folly to allow valuable inventory to stack up, unwatched, in the receiving
department. Get it loaded into stock whenever possible. For those periods
when you can’t load it into normal storage, look to solutions such as
portable, lockable security carts that can stow it away safely wherever it
sits. If it’s palletized, get it shrink wrapped so that getting at it
requires more effort and more visibility.
Use seals that are difficult to reseal once they’ve been broken: Such
tools as self-voiding tape and water gum tape make it hard for thieves to
hide what they’ve done. If they break a carton seal, it’s visible. In the
case of a trucker working with a warehouse employee, this can be
particularly effective.
Consider electronic security systems and surveillance. You can monitor
movements in the warehouse using these tools. Your insurance company may
provide better rates to you if you have them, and they are great
deterrence. Simple tricks such as installing a dome mirror or an opaque
camera dome may deter some people. It lets them know that you’re paying
attention.
In the end, nothing is foolproof, but a combination of common-sense
tactics, equipment, and awareness can significantly cut your chance of
losses. Consider the way people steal cars: no thief can be stopped by a
car alarm or steering wheel attachment, but they may move on to cars that
don’t have these devices.
Your efforts aren’t meant to create a totally secure environment—very
little can make that happen. Your shipping and receiving area should
become a “hard target’, too risky for thieves to consider.
Security Resources:
Australian Institute of Criminology Study on Cargo Theft
Cisco-Eagle Warehouse Security Resource Page
Please submit questions about this article to: 24hours@cisco-eagle.com.
