Time for Truckers to Unite on Cargo Crime, Says CTA

The $5 billion problem of cargo crime is still not being taken as seriously as it should be, said the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) in a press release.

The press release came on the heels of a six-hour police chase involving a stolen flatbed tractor-trailer in Toronto along the QEW.

The CTA pointed out that the majority of media focused on a "trucker" leading the chase, when in actual fact the suspect in custody, according to various reports, is a tried and true criminal who is known to Halton Regional Police.

The tractor-trailer unit had a load of wafer board on it when it was stolen, the CTA said, and had already been off-loaded by the time the chase started.

CTA president David Bradley said that Monday’s incident not only highlights the need to take cargo crime seriously, but also demonstrated "how truck drivers work together to protect themselves and to fight cargo crime.”

According to the CTA, another truck driver — a colleague of the owner-driver of the stolen rig — spotted the tractor-trailer on Highway 401 and, after becoming suspicious when he didn’t respond to his CB call, called his buddy’s cell and was told the truck had been stolen. The location of the truck was then passed on to police.

Monday’s theft occurred in a well-lit, secure parking lot that is monitored 24/7. The owner of the truck had been parking it in the same place for 20 years. The trailer was even equipped with an immobilizing device, and yet the thief was still able to drive away with the load.

It’s no surprise that organized crime has been getting savvier, and it’s high time the industry does the same.

CTA and the Insurance Bureau of Canada have started a Cargo Crime Incident Report program in the hopes of gathering information that can be used to combat cargo crime.

"What happened shows us that the industry, government and the enforcement agencies must do a better job of working together to develop countermeasures to combat this serious area of criminality,” Bradley said.