On Friday, May 22, New Jersey-based logistics security firm CargoNet issued a warning to carriers about a heightened risk of theft over Memorial Day weekend.
According to the company, historical data collected from the Thursday before Memorial Day through that Wednesday after the holiday shows that “thieves continue to exploit long weekends, reduced staffing, closed facilities, and freight left unattended.”
Over the previous five years, CargoNet recorded a total of 221 cargo theft events over the Memorial Day weekend. In 2025, theft levels were the highest they had been over the five-year period, with 66 events.
As for what thieves were targeting, the most frequently stolen items over the holiday weekend included food and beverages, electronics, vehicles and accessories, household goods and apparel.
Unsurprisingly, California was the most targeted state by cargo thieves during the Memorial Day period, accounting for 70 of the reported theft events over the analysis period. Rounding out the top five were Texas (31), Illinois (19), Georgia (16) and Florida (12).
While those numbers are trending in the wrong direction, Keith Lewis, CargoNet’s vice president of operations, said that heightened theft risks over the holiday weekend aren’t the only thing that should concern shippers and carriers.
“Memorial Day creates the kind of operating environment cargo thieves look for: loaded freight at rest, closed facilities, delayed communication, and fewer people available to verify changes,” Lewis said in a statement. “The concern this year is not only that theft activity may increase over the holiday period, but that organized groups are becoming more selective in the freight they pursue.”
In April, the company released its 2026 First Quarter Supply Chain Risk Trends Analysis, which showed a 5.3% decrease in total theft events in the first quarter of 2026 when compared to the previous year. Despite fewer cargo theft incidents, the company said the total estimated loss from those events remained “essentially unchanged” compared with the first three months of 2025.
According to CargoNet, the reason for that centers on organized criminal groups becoming more selective about the loads they target, as well as an increase in sophisticated, fraud-based theft.
Since the start of 2026, the company said it had noted an increase in thieves targeting copper products, beverages, meat, apparel, automotive products, cosmetics, seafood, and high-value technology products such as cryptocurrency mining equipment, networking equipment, and enterprise server components. LL
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