Trucking News · Multi-state · November 9, 2026

Truckers: Cargo Theft Forecast Tops $1 Billion by 2027

Illustration of a man checking a locked trailer door with a flashlight at a truck lot at night — Illustration for this story. Not a photo of a specific location.

Image caption: Illustration: AI-generated illustration, not a photo of the people, vehicles or places in this story. It shows a generic trailer parked at a lit lot at night.

Supply and Demand Chain Executive coverage of a SpaceHawk GPS 2027 Cargo Theft Forecast says reported cargo theft losses in the United States and Canada are projected to top $1 billion in 2027. That billion-dollar figure is a forecast from a GPS tracking company, not a completed annual total already logged.

CargoNet logged nearly $725 million in cargo theft losses in 2025, up 60% from 2024, the report says. Adding CargoNet's separate first-half 2026 releases produces $436 million. The forecast author projects that repeating the first-half pace puts 2026 near $872 million. Average stolen-load value hit $564,000 in the second quarter of 2026, described as double the 2025 average.

Attribution and state detail

Ryan Horban of SpaceHawk GPS is quoted saying thieves now pick the load before they pick the lock. California logged 1,218 incidents in 2025, the most of any state, per CargoNet figures cited in the story. The forecast also predicts the 2026 Thanksgiving period will top the 79 thefts logged over Thanksgiving 2024.

Horban said thefts fell 26% in the second quarter while losses more than doubled, a sign that thieves are going after fewer but more valuable loads. The forecast also says deceptive pickups will pass one in eight U.S. cargo thefts in 2027.