Cargo crime

Cargo crime

Cargo crime is steadily on the rise – losses from cargo, in storage or in transit surpasses $30-50 billion per year, globally. Law enforcement officials in the USA state that $12 million plus worth of goods are stolen from factory floors, warehouse shelves or in transit, each year (1998). Addressing this problem needs a unified effort involving government agencies, law enforcement, insurance companies, transportation providers, shippers, carriers etc. in maintaining and controlling cargoes and assets.

Of course, since the September 11 catastrophe, security has become a major concern, wherein requests to more proactively track the whereabouts of gasoline trucks, hazardous chemical trucks and other assets have been overwhelming. Prime importance is shown in areas of cargo being tampered with or dangerous packages being implanted on to transporting vehicles.

Qualcomm, the wireless communications technology company, provides all of the US trucking carriers with wireless systems for messaging, position location reporting and incident response management to transport ammunition for the Department of Defense. Recently, the company demonstrated its security technology truck, an 18-wheeler truck equipped with satellite-based mobile communications and position-tracking systems along with safety and security technologies.

Governments and the transportation industry play a complementary role in promoting cargo security. In the recently introduced Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) – a joint initiative between US Government and the industry, importers take prominent steps to assess, evolve and communicate tighter security practices for cargo and the entire supply chain. This allows importers' goods to receive expedited processing across US borders.

Cargo security managers are facing a Herculean task of incorporating wireless security systems with their existing enterprise resource planning systems, which optimises the security department's role in supply chain management, directly impacting on the bottom line.

Shippers, carriers, logistics providers, and freight forwarders are entering into cyberspace providing real-time cargo tracking information, positioning of fleets etc. However, this holds the risk of inadequately protected electronic systems revealing critical information that comes in handy for cargo criminals.

On the other hand, law enforcement's leniency in prosecution and sentencing entitles cargo criminals to make high profits and be less worried about the repercussions of cargo theft and fraud.

Technology support

A few of the cargo security applications in use are:

• Alarm systems and alerts – which aim to secure the contents of trailers/fleets from source to destination. Local alarm systems serve as theft deterrent by sending tamper detection alerts. An attempt to tamper with the doors of trailers results in the system sending an alarm to a pager carried by the drivers (allows detection only with a specific range). The system also tracks events history such as door openings, refer fault etc. Widespread usage of alarm systems is seen among small and medium sized fleets.

• Asset/cargo tracking system – the alarm and alert systems are used in conjunction with satellite-based vehicle tracking system (using global positioning system (GPS) with satellite communications, geofencing and cellular communication technologies), which allows fleet managers to remotely monitor,track and communicate with their drivers in real-time. Such systems provide updates on vehicle location, speed, mapping directions, security etc. –right on to the fleet manager's desktop. It also helps in archiving of vital fleet data, track stolen cargoes etc. The tracking system may also provide remote disabling of the truck in the event of a security breach due to on-board tamper detection or invalid driver log-in. While automatic vehicle location(AVL) system is an effective asset recovery tool, the asset tracking system has the theft deterrent value. Currently, a comprehensive solution has come into existence that combines mapping, directions and geofencing technologies, thereby providing access for trucking companies to a turnkey AVL mapping application that can be extended to routing, geofencing and alerts. This solution also notifies dispatchers when vehicles are out-of-route, or approaching sensitive areas.

• Alerts in yards – when alarm systems are attached to trailers/containers, they protect the loaded goods parked in yards. In the dispatch/security office, a computer station will be in constant interrogation with systems in the yard. An attempt to break in will trigger the system to send an alarm that alerts yard personnel.

• Electronic seals and radio frequency identification (RFID) –RFID technology is effectively utilised in the shipping and railroad industries alike. Electronic tracking tags and seals attached to a rail or ship create a wireless local area network (WLAN) that automatically informs the driver or a central control station of a broken seal. These tags can also send vital information about the shipments such as the current status, whether tampered prior destination etc.

• Non-intrusive inspection and detection devices – advanced imaging systems and non-intrusive inspection technologies such as X-ray, gamma ray etc. can be used to inspect goods and detect weapons of mass destruction stored in containers or train cars.

• Access control and ID authentication – involves technologies including smart cards, picture badges, biometrics, radio frequency (RF) etc. that identify and authenticate individuals or vehicles within a restricted area,or people assigned to perform tasks, for example, loading of goods into a container.

• Geofencing – allows fleets to ply within set boundaries. This technology alerts trucking companies when the vehicle enters restricted areas or leaves its designated route.

Wireless technologies in cargo transportation offer the following benefits:

• lower insurance premiums;

• instant notification of security breaches;

• flexible and secure handling of high security cargo by authenticated personnel;

• property losses are curtailed or prevented;

• verification of contents in a non-intrusive manner at the point of entry;

• "assured" and timely delivery of goods resulting in improved customer satisfaction;

• data access via a wide range of devices including pagers, laptops and PDAs.

It is clear that to realise these benefits, supply chain companies must have an end-to-end cargo security plan.