A new survey of 150 U.S.-based loss and organized retail crime prevention leaders finds that 81% report it has become more organized in recent years, while 79% say their organization is more concerned about cargo theft than ever before, according to SmartSense by Digi’s Cargo Theft Report.

More than half of respondents (63%) said cargo theft incidents have increased compared with last year and 81% said that organized retail crime is a growing concern for their organization.

In addition, the global provider of Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity solutions found that 80% indicate that cargo theft incidents have led to lost sales for their organization, while 40% report annual losses of at least $1 million due to cargo theft, and 28% report annual losses of more than $2 million.

“Cargo thieves have continued to escalate their tactics and expand their use of technology,” said Guy Yehiav, president of SmartSense by Digi. “Businesses need to evolve with it. New forms of instantaneous location tracking and visibility intelligence are needed to understand what normal movement looks like, identify anomalies quickly and act before suspicious activity turns into a multimillion-dollar loss.”

When asked about cargo theft tactics, respondents identified fraudulent pickups and carrier impersonation (78%), GPS jamming and spoofing (71%), trailer theft (66%), and double brokering (64%) as their top concerns.

Respondents noted that cargo theft incidents have contributed to lost sales (80%); inventory value, customer churn and delayed deliveries (73%); lost employee productivity (68%); damaged brand reputation (67%); operational disruption (66%); and stockouts (51%).

The data paints a troubling picture of increasingly organized criminal operations targeting U.S. supply chains through a wide range of tactics designed to evade traditional security measures, the company said.

The severity of cargo theft’s threat is being taken seriously. Seventy percent (70%) say their organizations are investing more this year in cargo theft prevention compared to last year.

Overall, the capabilities respondents believe will make the biggest difference in fighting cargo theft include real-time location visibility and data that can be used to identify recurring theft patterns or high-risk routes.

The following technologies and tactics were deemed the most effective: GPS tracking (70%), geofencing (65%), vehicle or trailer monitoring (57%), and cargo-level sensors (57%).

More than half (53%) also indicate that collaboration with federal, state or local law enforcement is an effective prevention measure.

There is still room for improvement as just 37% of respondents say they regularly report incidents and work directly with law enforcement on investigations, while 42% report most incidents but coordinate little beyond the initial report, and 17% report only the most serious or high-value cases.

And those using third party carriers for cargo transportation must deal with added complexity as getting carrier compliance can be difficult.

“The companies making the most progress are moving from visibility to actionability,” said Yehiav. “Real-time monitoring and faster alerts help teams respond to route deviations, unauthorized stops and other warning signs while there’s still time to intervene, protecting not only the shipment, but also revenue, customer trust and overall supply chain resilience. For losses that can’t be prevented, it also provides more data for fueling cooperation with law enforcement.”