A freight broker recently went viral with the story of a $400,000 load of lobster meat stolen from a warehouse in Taunton, Massachusetts.
The story might sound familiar to anyone with experience in trucking's spot market.
PFL Logistics, the brokerage arm of Rexing Companies, had a manufacturer customer hand them a load of lobster to move from a cold storage warehouse on December 12. The fairly large broker contracted a carrier, but just about as soon as the truck left the facility, the GPS tracking went dark and the load was never seen again.
"The actual carrier we hired, we believe they were impersonated by a bad actor in a criminal theft ring," said Dylan Rexing, head of Rexing Companies. "I think we had posted [the load] online, and someone called in and we got hoaxed with a spoofed email."
PFL uses the RMIS "carrier vetting" and onboarding software most owner-ops will be familiar with. But -- stop us if you've heard this one before -- the software did not in fact prevent cargo theft in this case.
Why? Dylan Rexing admits a "mistake was made, and we didn’t catch something we probably should have caught."
Maybe the shipper needed to check the truck or the driver's CDL. Maybe the broker needed to call the carrier's FMCSA-listed phone number to confirm details before handing the load to the carrier they thought they were dealing with.
Whatever happened, it's in the past. But unlike most cases of cargo theft that go unreported, Rexing stepped out and made national news.
Why would Rexing publicly discuss such a big mistake? Why associate his company name with something like that, when most simply sweep it under the rug?
"The answer is in the question," said Rexing. "We have no financial gain [from talking about this]. To some degree, it puts a black eye on our business, but let’s be real, if no one is talking about it, nothing will get done."
[Related: Don't be an unwitting accomplice to cargo theft: Cautionary tale]
The theft happened weeks ago. "Someone’s already cooked it with butter and it’s gone," said Rexing. "Even if the lobster shows up in my lap tomorrow, we’re gonna throw it away anyway. The supply chain is broken, but the answer is that if no one raises their hand to talk about it, nothing gets done."
Rexing is a member of the Transportation Intermediaries Association, the largest trade group for freight brokers. In that capacity, Rexing has visited Washington, D.C., three times to talk to lawmakers about how to fight the cargo theft problem.
Instead of going quiet or going after the carrier, which unfortunately happens pretty often (and it's an open question in the broker community if carriers who get hacked or impersonated should face consequences), Rexing decided to send a message to the entire country.
Cargo theft "has an effect on the consumer," said Rexing. "The reality is the public needs to take real issue with this problem. It affects the pocketbook, whether or not you eat seafood."
After a few years of runaway inflation and now tariffs boosting prices, affordability has become a hot button issue in politics. And cargo theft, higher insurance rates, more hoops to jump through with brokers -- all of these stem from a blooming freight fraud problem that, according to Rexing and others, just makes life more expensive for everyone.
Rexing and TIA are pushing two pieces of legislation that could help: The Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act (current version at this link) would allow FMCSA to fine bad actors $10,000, among other provisions. And the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act would establish an Organized Retail and Supply Chain Crime Coordination Center within Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Even outside of those bills, Rexing wants more. TIA and the FBI have set up a partnership to address freight fraud, but Rexing said "to my knowledge, six people work in that field office" on a nation-sized load of cargo theft cases and fraud. Rexing says 60, or maybe even 600, FBI employees on the case might make a dent.
Until any such meaningful enforcement comes to fruition, even thereafter, it's important for carriers and brokers alike to stay on their toes with preventive measures. Find resources for owner-operators via this link.
[Related: Cargo theft proliferation ups the ante on prevention]
