The U.S. Department of Transportation has published a notice seeking information on how to protect America's supply chain from cargo theft. The notice asserts these crimes involve opportunistic "straight thefts" of trailers, containers, and loads at truck stops or multimodal distribution hubs and highly coordinated operations conducted by organized criminal networks.

Both categories create significant economic losses, disrupt supply chains, and in some cases fund broader illicit activities such as narcotics trafficking, counterfeiting, and human smuggling. DOT seeks information from state, metropolitan, and local agencies; law enforcement; industry; stakeholders (e.g., carriers, shippers, drivers, warehouse operators (including at airports), insurers); and the public to aid in the development of strategies and potential programs to reduce cargo theft, strengthen supply chain security, and create a safe operating environment for freight stakeholders and the traveling public.

The inquiry includes cargo theft from all modes of transportation and sets out a number of questions that commentors are asked to consider, including what industry best practices or technologies (e.g., GPS tracking, electronic seals, AI-driven monitoring, secure parking, etc.) have proven most effective in reducing both opportunistic thefts and organized thefts.