185 cargo theft incidents between March and May this year

There were 185 incidents of cargo theft in the United States between March and May this year, according to FreightWatch International.

The company uses its data from its supply chain intelligence centre in its rolling quarterly reports on cargo thefts, the most recent of which broke down crimes from March to May 2013.

Of the 185 thefts recorded, 79 were in March, 44 in April and 63 in May, according to FreightWatch.

While the incidents of theft dropped by 16% over the previous three months, the average loss value increased 9% to $156,408, according to the company.

Food and drinks were the product type that had the most thefts between March and May, with 50 thefts. The pharmaceutical industry was next, with 21 thefts.

Most product types had a decline in thefts, although auto/parts saw a rise from nine to 16 thefts in the three months over the previous quarter, and thefts of building and industrial products rose from 12 incidents to 14. Cosmetics and personal care, as well as tobacco, had minor increases.

For electronics, thefts decreased from 30 in the previous quarter to 19 between March and May.

More than a quarter of the thefts were in California with 49 incidents, while Texas came in second with 25 thefts.

Unsecured parking led to 75% of the thefts for which location types were recorded, FreightWatch also noted in its report.