Cargo theft concern falls despite losses

UK fleet operators are reporting lower levels of concern about cargo theft even as incident levels remain high and financial losses continue to rise, according to new research from Geotab. The connected vehicle and asset technology company said 55% of UK fleet managers now feel less concerned about cargo theft than they did 12 months ago, despite an average of 32 cargo theft-related incidents per company over the past year.

The findings are part of a wider European survey of more than 3,500 fleet managers across seven countries. Across the full sample, 64% of respondents said they were less concerned than a year earlier, while the average number of incidents stood at 34 per company. Set against those figures is a sharper warning on the cost of theft: Geotab said industry data shows losses from cargo theft have risen by 438% since 2022.

That contradiction sits at the centre of the report. Concern is falling, but exposure remains significant, and the operational consequences extend beyond the missing load. Cargo theft affects schedules, customer service, driver confidence, insurance costs, and wider supply chain resilience. Larger fleets, Geotab said, often report more incidents while simultaneously expressing lower concern, suggesting that familiarity with the problem may be masking the scale of the risk.

Edward Kulperger, Senior Vice President, EMEA at Geotab, said: “Cargo theft is an existential threat to supply chains, driver retention, and customer trust – yet many fleets appear to be letting their guard down. While criminal tactics are becoming highly sophisticated, fleet defences have often not kept pace due to perceived cost barriers.”

The company’s research points to a widening technology gap. Fleet managers identified risks ranging from strategic theft through fraud and deception to insider-facilitated theft and in-transit crime, while Geotab said Europe is seeing more technologically sophisticated theft patterns that reflect trends already observed in the United States. Despite that, no single security tool appears to be deployed consistently at scale across European fleets.

Cameras were the most commonly cited prevention measure, used by 27% of respondents. Adoption of other tools, including real-time trailer tracking, sensor-based alerts, and verified driver identification, appears comparatively low. A further 22% of respondents said they rely solely on insurance to cover cargo theft losses, pointing to a reactive model that prioritises reimbursement over prevention, recovery, and operational continuity.

Kulperger added: “The combination of falling concern and fragmented security approaches is creating blind spots just as cargo theft becomes more organised and cross-border in nature.”

Geotab argues that the commercial effect of this approach reaches further than individual fleets. As insurers adjust premiums and risk pricing, costs are likely to be passed through the supply chain and on to customers. The company has published further findings in its whitepaper, Securing the Supply Chain: A 2026 Blueprint For Countering Smarter Theft, which examines prevention, recovery, and prosecution challenges in more detail.

The survey was conducted by Opinion Matters between 1 October 2025 and 9 October 2025 among 3,501 professionals responsible for operating or managing fleets of lorries, trucks, or vans across the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. For UK operators, the message is less about whether theft remains a risk than whether current security strategies are keeping pace with it.