The train robbers of American lore would be astonished at how easy the pickings are in the modern world. No dynamite needed or weapons of any kind. Just a decent set of bolt cutters to break the surprisingly chintzy locks on cargo containers. In the New York Times Magazine, Malia Wollan chronicles the astonishing scale of theft going on every day from trains—sometimes moving ones—that are hauling Amazon boxes and the like as part of the 21st-century supply chain. Trucks, too. In particular, the "Los Angeles basin is the country's undisputed capital of cargo theft, the region with the most reported incidents of stuff stolen from trains and trucks and those interstitial spaces in the supply chain, like rail yards, warehouses, truck stops and parking lots." Ports there handle more than a third of imports from Asia, particularly electronics that are so popular with thieves.
The story follows the authorities trying to stop the thieves—sometimes part of a fencing network but often just a passerby or an unhoused person who lives near tracks— a daunting task in an age where cargo trains sometimes run three miles long. Getting a handle on numbers is tricky, but the Homeland Security Department estimates up to $35 billion in annual losses from cargo thefts. So why don't companies invest more money in better security? Cost. "A company with 20,000 containers might decide it isn't worth an extra $10 per container for better locks or seals," writes Wollan. And if they put alarms on such containers, who would respond if one goes off when the train is in some desolate hinterlands? "Anything that adds to that transportation cost, including security, is typically thought of as extraneous or unnecessary," says Tony Pelli BSI Group. Besides, most of the stuff is insured. Read the full story. (Or check out other longforms.)
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