Verisk CargoNet, a Verisk business, is advising transportation and logistics companies to prepare for elevated cargo theft risk during the Memorial Day holiday period, as historical data shows thieves continue to exploit long weekends, reduced staffing, closed facilities, and freight left unattended.
"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," says Keith Lewis, VP, operations at Verisk CargoNet. "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."
Verisk CargoNet
Key takeaways:
· The Memorial Day risk period is defined as the Thursday before Memorial Day through the Wednesday after the holiday.
· From 2021 through 2025, Verisk CargoNet recorded 221 cargo theft events reported during the Memorial Day period. Activity reached its highest level in the five-year analysis in 2025, when Verisk CargoNet recorded 66 events, up from 49 events in both 2023 and 2024.
· While total incident volume has declined in the first half of 2026 compared with recent years, organized theft groups appear to be moving toward more selective, higher-value targets. In fact, Verisk CargoNet already reported 28 stolen shipments valued at more than $1 million in the first several months of 2026.
· California was the most active state during the five-year Memorial Day analysis period, with 70 reported events, followed by Texas with 31, Illinois with 19, Georgia with 16, and Florida with 12. These states remain exposed because of their concentration of warehouses, intermodal facilities, freight corridors, and large consumer markets.
· The most frequently targeted commodity groups during prior Memorial Day periods were food and beverages, electronics, household goods, vehicles and accessories, and apparel.
· Data shows continued targeting of commodities with strong illicit-market demand, including 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.
· Some groups continue to target unattended loaded trailers and unsecured lots. Others are using identity-based tactics to redirect shipments after a legitimate motor carrier has already taken possession, allowing criminals to bypass controls focused primarily on the shipment tender process.
