The association, in a recently updated fact sheet (download below), noted that more than 65,000 thefts occurred in 2024, up approximately 40% from 2023, according to industry estimates.
Railroads, AAR said, are also reporting an escalation in tactics with suspects being armed, increasing the potential for apprehending these individuals to result in violence.
At most, one in ten cargo theft attempts results in an arrest, railroads estimate, according to the AAR. “Even when they do, many of these crimes are committed by repeat offenders,” it reported. “For example, one railroad apprehended the same individual five times in a single day and another has reported arresting the same individual 17 times for repeated cargo theft attempts.”
“While these criminals have targeted nearly every mode, the disruptions to freight rail operations are acutely felt, as incidents can involve damage to rail equipment that forces trains to stop, thereby resulting in costly delays in service that ripple across the interconnected network,” AAR President and CEO Ian Jefferies was quoted as saying in the association’s newsletter, The Signal, on Feb. 28.
Railroads also face the costs of insurance claims for stolen goods, as well as the need to repair or replace damaged infrastructure, manage operational delays, invest in new anti-theft technologies and allocate additional resources to combat these crimes, the AAR noted.
While railroads have “invested millions in preventing these crimes across the 140,000-mile U.S. rail network,” according to the AAR, the industry cannot disrupt criminal groups alone. The association is calling for an increase in penalties for those who commit cargo theft; “efficient and effective prosecution for cargo theft crimes when an arrest occurs”; and secure funding for dedicated federal prosecutors to tackle cargo theft. In 2024, it called for passage of the Safeguarding our Supply Chains Act, introduced by Reps. David Valadao (R-Calif.) and Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), to create a data-sharing repository from industry and improve coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and local law enforcement to address cargo theft.
