Food and Beverage Company Fights Back Against Cargo Theft

The Challenge

•  Reduce losses from cargo theft and pilfering

•  Improve visibility throughout shipping Journey 

The Solution

Traxens smart solutions and data analysis

The Results

•  Instantly identified suspicious container openings to accelerate investigation

•  Validated incidents with time-stamped location and shipment data to facilitate claims

•  Adjusted supply chain routes and replaced high-risk carriers

Fighting Back Against Cargo Theft

Goods are most vulnerable to theft and pilferage when they are in transit. Although incidents often go unreported, industry estimates say cargo theft is a $15-30 billion problem each year in the United States alone. Globally, three out of four cargo thefts occur while goods are being shipped by truck, according to BSI Supply Chain Services and Solutions. Foods and beverages were the most-stolen products worldwide in 2018, and entire truckloads or containers represented 74% of all cargo thefts. Pilferage—selectively stealing small quantities of cargo—accounted for 18% of thefts.

Thieves most commonly target warehouses, freight yards, and unattended trucks. Seals placed on container doors do not stop thieves—they simply remove the container doors, leaving the seals intact. A European food and beverage manufacturer is fighting back against cargo criminals by adding another layer of security to its shipments. 

The Solution

The manufacturer chose Traxens smart containers and solutions to alert it when containers were opened unexpectedly. Traxens smart devices are easily attached to shipping containers or crates, and they include intrusion, shock, temperature, humidity, and other monitoring sensors. The devices monitor and record temperature, humidity, rapid acceleration, sudden impact, and intrusion data throughout the shipping journey. Traxens continuously sends the monitoring data over global cellular links to the Traxens cloud-based platform for analysis. 

Having a Clear Picture

After loading the Traxens smart containers, the client monitored its cargo as it traveled via rail and truck from France to China. En route, Traxens alerted the client to a suspicious opening of a container in Germany. The specific date, time, location, and other data were captured, showing exactly when and where theft or tampering might have occurred. 

With instant alerting, the client could quickly notify terminal or depot authorities and begin investigating. Traxens shipment data also enabled the client to provide authorities with more detail about products in the specific container, which they could use to help identify potential suspects. 

Providing Options

Traxens data delivered valuable insight that the client previously lacked. The manufacturer can now make data-driven decisions about security solutions, choice of routing, and choice of carriers to reduce theft. Traxens data can be delivered from anywhere, regardless of whether the container is shipped via rail, sea, or truck, providing around-the-clock visibility to products. With Traxens, the manufacturer now delivers its products to the people who matter most—paying customers.