When it comes to supply chain cargo theft, an issue which has ostensibly run rampant, especially in recent years, industry stakeholders received good news this week, with the House Judiciary Committee signing off on H.R. 2853, the Combatting Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025 (CORCA), through markup.
This legislation was initially introduced by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), whom also serves as Senate Judiciary Chairman, and Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio) in April 2025. This legislation, which has bipartisan support, is focused on bolstering the nation’s response to organized retail crime that involves the illegal acquisition of retail goods and cargo for the purpose of selling those illegally obtained goods through physical and online marketplaces.
Key components of this legislation, cited by the Arlington, Va.-based Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) include:
- strengthening federal Enforcement by expanding federal authority under Title 18 of the U.S. Code to more effectively prosecute aggregated organized retail and cargo theft;
- establishing a Crime Coordination Center through the creation of a Department of Homeland Security-led center to facilitate data sharing, intelligence analysis, and joint enforcement efforts targeting both retail theft and multimodal supply chain crimes;
- increasing penalties for Cargo Theft by enhancing penalties for the organized theft and fraudulent transport of goods, particularly across state lines or international borders; and
- enhancing public-private collaboration by improving coordination among federal agencies – including FMCSA – law enforcement, retailers, and transportation providers to prevent theft and disrupt the resale of stolen goods
TIA explained that the impact of cargo theft on the U.S. economy is high, coming in at up to $35 billion annually, with strategic theft seeing a 1500% increase going back to the first quarter of 2021. What’s more, as a recent example, it pointed to a load of lobsters, which was valued at more than $400,000, which was on the way to various Costco locations.
TIA called this a “major win” for the freight and logistics sector, as well as its membership.
“When you go to a member of Congress’s office and talk about freight fraud or double-brokering or unlawful brokerage activities, I think those members are certainly sympathetic to that,” TIA President & CEO Chris Burroughs told LM in a previous interview. “But if you can put it on a granular level, in terms of a specific example with a company, or a particular shipper, within their district that has been impacted [by freight fraud], it resonates more with them and then you can really start digging into the data. We are going to continue to highlight this from an advocacy and general education perspective, in terms of the latest tactics these criminals, or fraudsters, are looking to continue to utilize to gain access to freight. They are very well organized and very smart.”
What’s more, Burroughs pointed out that these criminals like to target items and commodities that are in high demand, which can have a major financial impact. That financial impact, he said, applies to losses stemming from fraud, what impacted companies are spending on technology to address it, and simply to shine a light on what he called the severity and magnitude of this growing problem.
Burroughs said that the 1,500% uptick in freight fraud incidents since 2021 is the one that best describes the current situation. But he added that comes with the caveat that the tally may be three or four times even higher, due to a high number of incidents not being reported.
“The percentage of increases is massive, which is something that needs to be continued to be highlighted,” he said. “The second piece is the financial cost and impact, especially for high-value freight.”
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) also commended CORCA’s passing through the House Judiciary Committee, with the legislation now on the way to the full House of Representatives for consideration, with ATA noting that Congress is ready to leverage the appropriations process this week in order to enhance enforcement capabilities against cargo theft.
“As the transportation mode entrusted with moving nearly three-quarters of the nation’s freight, trucking has become a top target for organized crime rings, including transnational organizations,” said ATA President & CEO Chris Spear. “These brazen criminals rob our industry of millions of dollars every day, raising costs for consumers and putting truck drivers at risk in the process. The trucking industry refuses to accept this status quo any longer. The passage of CORCA by the House Judiciary Committee represents a pivotal moment in our fight to protect our supply chain. We thank Reps. David Joyce (R-OH) and Susie Lee (D-NV) for leading this bipartisan bill, and we appreciate members of the committee for supporting this effort to bolster federal law enforcement’s ability to investigate and unravel complex, multijurisdictional cargo theft cases.”
Citing data from its American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) arm, ATA pointed out that cargo theft currently is costing the trucking sector more than $18 million per day.
ATA’s modal counterpart, the Association of American Railroads (AAR), commended CORCA’s ongoing momentum through the House.
AAR President & CEO Ian Jefferies called it a critical step toward confronting the organized theft networks that are increasingly targeting freight railroads, truckers, retailers, and workers across the U.S.
“These sophisticated, multi-jurisdictional criminal operations disrupt supply chains, endanger employees and communities, and increase costs for consumers—challenges that railroads have invested heavily to address but cannot solve alone without a strong federal response,” said Jefferies. “We look forward to passage by the full U.S. House of Representatives, swift action in the U.S. Senate, and ultimate enactment of this bipartisan legislation to strengthen law enforcement coordination, protect the flow of goods, and safeguard America’s economy.”
Also throwing its support behind CORCA is the National Retail Federation (NRF).
NRF Executive Vice President of Government Relations David French said the organized retail crime continues to be a multifaceted problem, which afflicts all aspects of the retail industry and the customers they serve.
“NRF has long supported federal legislation to strengthen federal, state and local law enforcement coordination so that they can further counteract these crimes and bring criminals to justice,” said French. “NRF applauds House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jordan and Ranking Member Raskin for a successful markup of this important legislation. We now urge the House to vote on it and for the Senate to quickly follow suit and pass it into law.”
In the NRF’s “The Impact of Theft & Violence 2025” report, it found that more than half of retailers surveyed reported increases in phone scams (70%), digital and ecommerce frauds (55%), shoplifting and merchandise theft (52%), and cargo or supply chain thefts (50%) being conducted by organized retail crime groups over the past 12 months.
