Latest HOS relief petitions | Stay vigilant for cargo thieves through July 4 holiday

Cargo theft expected to ramp up over next several days

With America's 250th birthday celebration just around the corner July 4, supply chain watchers warned of increased cargo theft activity on the horizon. During this and other holiday periods, reduced staffing at shippers and receivers, facility closures, and staged freight can create opportunities for organized theft groups, according to theft recording firm Verisk CargoNet.

CargoNet analyzed 256 thefts, occurring between July 1 and July 7 from 2021 through 2025. It found July 3 -- this year falling on Friday, a federal holiday -- had the most theft activity during that period before dipping the subsequent two days. Verisk CargoNet

"The July 4 holiday creates a predictable disruption in the supply chain,” said Keith Lewis, vice president of operations at Verisk CargoNet. “Cargo thieves understand when freight is likely to be parked, when facilities may be closed, and when normal verification procedures may be under pressure."

The July 4 warning comes amid a broader shift in cargo theft severity, the firm said. In the first six months of 2026, CargoNet estimates cargo theft loss values have already exceeded $359 million, despite incident volume falling when compared with recent trends.

[Related: Carrier vetting without ELD tracking? Axle-weight monitoring spots cargo thefts in real time]

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The most-targeted commodities of late have been expensive metals like copper, molybdenum, antimony, tungsten, and zinc, as well as enterprise computer and networking components such as RAM modules, fiberoptic transceivers, storage drives, and enterprise server blades.

In the July 1–7 analysis, thieves showed preference for food and beverage products, household goods, electronics, vehicle accessories, and major appliances, including non-alcoholic beverages such as energy drinks, oils, tires, and appliance shipments.

The holiday period analysis showed theft activity most common in California, Texas, and Illinois. Highest-risk counties included San Bernardino and Los Angeles in California, Dallas County in Texas, Maricopa County in Arizona, Shelby in Tennessee, and Cook in Illinois.

Traditional cargo theft remains a significant holiday risk, as CargoNet continues to record thefts involving unattended loaded conveyances, burglaries of loaded trailers and containers, and activity in established logistics hotspots Miami, Atlanta and New York in addition to those previously mentioned.

[Related: Trucker Path adds cargo theft info to navigation]

The firm also warned that identity-based fraud and theft-by-deception schemes continue to evolve. 

This year so far, CargoNet's reported increased compromise and misuse of software-based business phone systems, allowing remote actors to make and receive calls from a motor carrier’s verified phone numbers and, in some cases, monitor active calls.

Criminal groups are also placing more emphasis on gaining access to motor carrier accounts on compliance platforms that brokers use to validate carriers before awarding load tenders, CargoNet added. Using remote access tools, credential compromise, and social engineering schemes, fraudsters are able to deceive carriers into adding them as authorized users to those accounts, giving the appearance of legitimacy at the exact point when a broker is deciding whether to tender a shipment, the firm said.

"These schemes are becoming more personal, more technical, and more convincing," Lewis said. "Fraud actors are no longer relying only on spoofed emails or fake documents. They are trying to operate from inside trusted phone systems and compliance workflows that brokers use to validate carriers. Around a holiday weekend, when teams are short-staffed and decisions are being made quickly, that false appearance of legitimacy becomes especially dangerous."

[Related: Trucking brotherhood ain't dead yet: Breakdown, $360K cargo theft brings out the best]

Hazmat cleanup company requests HOS relief

Lone Star Haz Mat Response LLC, a company providing hazmat incident response, environmental cleanup and related emergency response services under contract with state and federal agencies -- including the Texas Department of Transportation and the Drug Enforcement Administration -- petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for an hours-of-service waiver for its “field response” drivers.

The requested exemption would allow those drivers to exceed HOS limits for the purpose of returning to their normal work reporting location or residence following hazardous materials incident response operations.

Lone Star said its drivers are dispatched only when they have sufficient hours available at the time of dispatch, yet due to the unpredictable duration of incident response operations, drivers may exhaust their HOS limits while completing response activities.

The company estimated that the requested relief would only be used four or five times per month.

FMCSA is accepting public comments on the request here through July 30.

Railroad-assist fleet petitions FMCSA for HOS waiver

Mainline Services LLC is requesting from FMCSA an exemption that would exempt some of its drivers from HOS regs including the 14-hour driving window and the 60/70 hours in 7/8 days rules.

Mainline Services is a full-service railroad construction, maintenance-of-way, and emergency response contractor operating seven divisions across the U.S. Servicesincluding emergency derailment response, railcar dismantling, track construction and maintenance, heavy equipment recovery, disaster response, and rail infrastructure support. The company employs 135 drivers who operate and transport equipment designed to clear derailed or disabled trains and remove hazardous materials or other debris.

In its HOS relief request, the company said “many ‘unplanned events’ occur outside of normal business hours, and its drivers must travel to and work on or alongside railroad rights-of-way, often after having been on duty at their home base.”

The hours-of-service limitations when responding to those “unplanned events” can delay the drivers from reaching the location of the event, adding that “significant delays in restoring rail service and addressing public safety hazards may occur when drivers cannot travel to the incident location due to the HOS limitations encountered during mobilization.”

The company said that if granted the exemption, it will continue implementing and following these safety measures:

• Drivers will receive at least one hour of lead time before mobilizing equipment and beginning travel
• Drivers travel in convoys with escort vehicles positioned at the front and rear
• Vehicles are equipped with two-way radios
• Supervisors conduct radio checks every 30-45 minutes requiring each driver to confirm status
• Supervisors train employees to recognize signs of driver fatigue
• Company policy clearly states that drivers are not required to operate a vehicle if they feel fatigued

FMCSA will accept public comments on Mainline’s request here through July 30.