Dive Brief:
- Matson will introduce a cargo security program in Q2, citing rising cargo theft incidents for intermodal freight, the company said in a press release.
- As part of the program, the U.S.-based transport company will deploy a security device on containers moving from Los Angeles to all BNSF network destinations, including Dallas, Chicago and Memphis, at no additional costs to customers.
- Additionally, BNSF has entered into an agreement with Matson to place the company’s containers in the lower well of international intermodal rail cars to enhance security from Los Angeles to Chicago. The same protection will apply to cargo traveling from Chicago to select East Coast destinations, per the release.
Dive Insight:
Cargo theft is a growing risk that both shippers and carriers are actively managing, leading to the adoption of additional protective measures.
“Our customers have become increasingly concerned about this industrywide problem; when some of them were affected directly, we knew we had to act,” John Lauer, Matson’s chief commercial officer, told Supply Chain Dive in an email.
Matson customers will receive the enhanced security measures for key destinations, which comprise the majority of the company’s inland intermodal markets.
“While no security system can eliminate all risk, these added measures significantly reduce exposure to theft and reinforce Matson's commitment to protecting customer cargo throughout the inland journey,” Lauer said in the release.
Cargo theft took center stage at last year's Senate hearing on organized retail crime, where lawmakers and stakeholders addressed supply chain vulnerabilities.
Further illustrating the scale of the problem, a survey conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute found that a group of carriers reported over $16 million in stolen cargo value in 2023, which could have amounted to $1.8 billion to $6.6 billion in direct and indirect costs to businesses that year.
Data from CargoNet also shows a 13% year-over-year increase in theft incidents in Q2 2025. This follows record-high figures from 2023 and 2024, according to Tom Wickham, VP and managing director of government affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Cargo theft is increasing rapidly with a significant shift toward sophisticated fraud and deception tactics,” he noted in a U.S. Chamber of Commerce analysis.
Other carriers, such as Werner Enterprises and Landstar System, have also deployed their own methods to combat cargo theft, but with a focus on artificial intelligence.
