Globally, cargo theft is big business and takes on many forms. It is often thought of as a victimless crime, despite the fact that annually it accounts for losses of billions of dollars. Its impact has a detrimental effect to the United States economy, which makes up roughly 17 to 22 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to EconomyWatch.com. The most common incidents of cargo theft involve organized criminals who steal commodities from loaded trailers. Substantial losses can also occur from facility burglaries.
Understandably, when manufacturers ship a commodity or mass-produced good from origin to destination its bottom-line and reputation is seriously impacted by cargo theft. In today’s shared supply chains that encompass multiple stakeholders, including the carriers, brokers, drivers, retailers, and manufacturers, an expense is always created by the need to rebuild the order and shipment to meet the original or revised demand. This additional expense and extra work must be handled while managing the cost of lost or stolen goods.
For manufacturers, its supply chain process helps the various logistics and security management teams keep track of the flow of goods from one point to another. Therefore, if the supply chain loses control or visibility, it has a negative disruption. While it is challenging to quantify the total costs of a disruption, it is most notable downstream as the related costs of cargo losses exceeds the value of the goods stolen, and typically gets passed on to the consumer.
So, in today’s blog, we share proven TydenBrooks supply chain security methods that help our manufacturing partners mitigate cargo theft and losses, and ensure their shipments are a “hard-target” for cargo thieves.
What’s the best approach to keep my cargo safe?
The rapidly changing world of cargo theft and evolution of new criminal techniques and technologies, requires that manufacturers adopt more stringent cargo security and safety measures while transporting goods. Companies must now develop preventative controls and include “active” tracking and monitoring to protect against cargo theft and pilferage. During the transport of products throughout one’s supply chain, it’s important to continually audit and evaluate the full chain of custody to mitigate vulnerabilities. Security measures should make it as difficult as possible for a criminal to tamper with or acquire goods and products.
So, what’s the best way for manufacturers to improve security and safety measures throughout the end-to-end process of production, storage, transportation, receiving, and keep their cargo safe? — A layered security strategy.
With its origins in military strategy, the term “layered security” describes the practice of combining multiple mitigating security control measures to protect resources. For goods in transit, this means not only protecting the exterior doors of the transport, but also using multiple layers of tamper-evident security solutions. This includes monitoring of cargo inside the trailer or container, and at the skid or carton level.
First step is to start with indicative security seals. These type of security seals are designed to be a deterrent and provide visual evidence of or to “indicate” tampering. These security seals are not designed to be a barrier. Indicative security seals can either be fixed in length or adjustable. The most widely supplied indicative security seal on the market for transportation is our Plastic Truck Seal. As its name implies, the plastic truck seal is frequently used to secure transport truck latches to show evidence that the truck door has been opened. It also provides chain-of-custody security with its consecutive numbering or bar coding, and a company name/logo.
Indicative wire or adjustable plastic seal security seals such as the Tug Tight or Quick Loc 1.0 are also widely used to secure manufactured goods that are shipped in drums and totes. Feeding both solutions through the lid apertures protect goods from pilferage and contamination. Our indicative KTC VOID message security tape is applied for a covert layer of security to protect against the introduction of contraband and to identify pilferage at the package level.
While indicative security seals are most frequently made of plastics, they can be made of other materials including wire or flat metal such as one of the best metal indicative security seals on the market, the Tyden Ball Seal. Additional examples of indicative security seals include Secure-Grip, All Seal, Equilok, X-Strap, Gemini Tote Seal, and Plastic Padlock Seals.
Your next action is to create a physical barrier between your goods and an attacker; hence the name. Barrier security seals include bolt and cable seals and are generally considered high security seals. However, there are medium and light duty cable seals that have smaller cable diameters. These cable seals are typically used for cross country or state shipments that do not require the high security ISO certification. High security seals on the other hand, are required to have independent laboratory testing to confirm its ISO 17712 certification. The use of high security cable and bolt seals on trailer, rail, and shipping containers restricts access to your cargo and must be removed with a cutting or removal tool.
Cable security seals can be made of aluminum, like our patented FlexSecure line; FS15, FS35, FS50. Unlike most aluminum seals that use a flat disc, the FlexSecure uses a ball-bearing that is forced down a locking chamber when the cable seal is locked. Our patented locking mechanism makes it all but impossible to tamper with or capture the ball-bearing. Conversely, a flat disc cable seal locking mechanism is vulnerable to a compression attack. By utilizing a simple pair of pliers anyone can capture the disc allowing the cable to be pulled out and resealed without any visual tamper evidence. Avoid disc locking mechanisms at all costs. If we know about this vulnerability, so do the bad guys.
Cable seals can also be made with a zinc locking body, like our EZ Loc line that is made of durable die-cast zinc. The newer over-molded EZ Loc Plus line offers the same level of security, starting with its zinc body that is then over-molded, allowing for additional customized marking options. Both the Flex Secure and EZ Loc use a non-preformed security cable that frays when cut to prevent reinsertion and to show evidence of tampering.
Bolts seals, such as our Snaptracker and Intermodal II are designed for cross-border and high-value state-to-state rail and trailer shipments. They are also regularly utilized for international container shipments. All our bolt seals meet or exceed the ISO 17712 standard and require bolt cutters for removal. Marked by high security lasers the ability to customize the bolt seals with 1D, 2D, and QR barcodes allows for unique company identifiers. This ensures their authenticity and chain-of-custody tracking. Our VuBolt seal also offers an option to color mix the bolt and the lock body which increases security by preventing 3D printing duplications.
I require complete visibility of my shipments, what are my best solutions?
Today’s technology offers several options depending on your supply chain security requirements. Starting with the most advanced tracking and monitoring cargo security solutions, a connected GPS device like our TB-HGR4 or the TB-HGD4 supplies manufacturers with real-time visibility and alerts to automatically identify and track the location of your cargo and equipment.
These “active” devices can be embedded into the freight including cartons to provide instant visibility when an attack is attempted at the case level. TydenBrooks’ TB-HGR4 is a reusable device designed for use in various supply chain and asset monitoring applications. This unit is rechargeable via Qi wireless charging and offers 40 days reporting at 1-hour {stationary); 15 min {in motion), and 10 sec sensor monitoring (assumes 8hrs of motion per day).
Both are available for use as a standalone device or in combination with our BLE Tyden Tags creating an expanded sensor network. These devices are capable of reporting location, temperature, light, movement, tilt, and shock/impact levels. The popular TB-HGD4 is a non-rechargeable connected device which lasts up to 60 days.
Leading the Way, Securing the World
Approaching our 150th year in March 2023, TydenBrooks continues to innovate and expand our full line of security seals and connected GPS devices and tags to identify tampering and mitigate theft of your goods in transit. We offer uniquely designed security products and solutions to fit any industry application and protect your cargo anywhere on the globe.
For a free layered security consultation from our team of industry experts, please contact us at [email protected]. Order online at www.tydenbrooks.com or contact our customer service team @ 1-800-458-7235 (SEAL).
