The Great Supply Train Robbery

Art of Supply

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According to reporting in the New York Times, about 20 million containers travel through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach California annually. Those containers are full of goods that need to travel to warehouses, stores, and consumer homes by truck and rail.

Unfortunately, a growing percentage of those goods never arrive, thanks to a sharp uptick in cargo theft. As Supply Chain Brain has reported, U.S. cargo thefts were up 9 percent year-over-year in 2023, with an additional increase at the end of the year.

The increase in rail cargo theft has significantly impacted Union Pacific and their customers, leaving literal debris fields around their tracks in the Los Angeles area.

In this week’s episode of Art of Supply, Kelly Barner covers the complexity and loss stemming from rampant rail container theft:

Why trains leaving Los Angeles and Long Beach are particular targets for theft
How Union Pacific is (and is not) attempting to stem the losses
Why divisions between public and private security are creating an opening that thieves are eager to exploit

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