While many across the country will be taking a few days off to celebrate the birth of America’s independence, freight thieves will be hard at work looking to liberate your cargo.
The increased threat of cargo theft is well documented during holiday weeks, when many shippers and receivers alter their operating schedules, creating optimal conditions for thieves.
In a recent report, Jersey City, N.J.-based freight security firm CargoNet analyzed cargo theft events that occurred from July 1-7 over the previous five years. In total, the company recorded 256 theft events over that week between 2021 and 2025, with the highest level of activity on July 3.
“The July 4 holiday creates a predictable disruption in the supply chain,” said Keith Lewis, vice president of operations at CargoNet. “Cargo thieves understand when freight is likely to be parked, when facilities may be closed, and when normal verification procedures may be under pressure.”
The company said the holiday alert “comes amid a broader shift in cargo theft severity”, noting that over the first half of 2026 thieves have been placing an emphasis on targeting high-value loads. In the first six months of the year, overall reported cargo theft incidents have declined, while the average value of stolen goods has climbed to $341,518, according to CargoNet.
So far this year, CargoNet reports that thieves have continued to target cost-dense loads of expensive metals such as copper, molybdenum, antimony, tungsten, and zinc, as well as enterprise computer and networking components, including RAM modules, fiber-optic transceivers, storage drives and enterprise server blades. The company said that many of these shipments can exceed $1 million in value.
As for what thieves are specifically targeting over the July 4 holiday week, loads of food and beverage products, household goods, electronics, vehicle accessories, major appliances and non-alcoholic beverages such as energy drinks, oils and tires were at the top of the list.
When it comes to where cargo theft is most prevalent over the holiday week, the usual suspects – California, Illinois and Texas – were the top three most targeted states.
On top of the heightened risk of cargo theft during the holiday week, the company is also telling carriers to be aware of identity-based fraud and theft-by-deception schemes.
“These schemes are becoming more personal, more technical, and more convincing,” Lewis said. “Fraud actors are no longer relying only on spoofed emails or fake documents. They are trying to operate from inside trusted phone systems and compliance workflows that brokers use to validate carriers. Around a holiday weekend, when teams are short-staffed and decisions are being made quickly, that false appearance of legitimacy becomes especially dangerous.” LL
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