Coalition Pushes Senate to Pass Cargo Theft Prevention Bill

Nearly 200 industry stakeholders, including the American Trucking Associations, are urging the Senate to pass the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act following the House's bipartisan approval in May. The coalition sent a letter on June 2 to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warning that cargo theft has evolved into coordinated multistate criminal operations that outpace current law enforcement capabilities. The group, which also includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Association of American Railroads, and National Retail Federation, cited growing risks to transportation workers and disruptions to freight movement across trucking, rail, and distribution centers. The timing is particularly urgent ahead of the back-to-school season when supply chain reliability matters most for communities. Cargo theft costs the trucking industry more than $18 million a day, according to the American Transportation Research Institute. Some theft operations have transnational connections and ties to drug trafficking and other criminal enterprises. The bill, introduced last year by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, would strengthen enforcement tools and coordination among federal, state, and local agencies. It would direct the Department of Homeland Security to lead a national response and establish an Organized Retail and Supply Chain Crime Coordination Center to investigate domestic and transnational criminal networks.