A new Geotab report suggests cargo theft is no longer just a security problem. It is becoming an operations problem, a driver-retention problem, and, increasingly, a technology problem.

A few numbers jump out right away:

• 38% of fleet professionals are more concerned about cargo theft than they were 12 months ago.

• 47% say theft-related stress and safety risks are contributing to driver burnout and turnover.

• 30% of consumers believe they ultimately pay for cargo theft through higher prices.

• 58% agree that an effective defense requires layered technology, yet nearly one-quarter of fleets still rely on “a strong lock and a vigilant driver.”

That disconnect sits at the center of Geotab’s latest report, Securing the Supply Chain: A 2026 Blueprint for Countering Smarter Theft, which argues the cargo theft landscape has shifted well beyond traditional break-ins and smash-and-grab incidents.

Cargo Theft is Evolving Past the Padlock

Estimates show that cargo theft losses in North America reached $6.6 billion in 2025, as criminal activity became both more valuable and more sophisticated. The report points to a growing wave of cyber-enabled and deception-based theft, including GPS spoofing, stolen credentials, AI-powered phishing, fraudulent pickups, and identity-based schemes designed to remove freight without force.

For fleets, that means old assumptions about what theft looks like are no longer holding up.

“This isn’t the same cargo theft problem the industry was dealing with even two years ago,” said Emily Williams, AVP of transportation business development at Geotab. “We’re seeing a convergence of physical and cyber threats.”

That convergence matters for the work truck market because many operations still depend on a mix of physical security, driver awareness, and disconnected systems. As theft tactics become more strategic, those gaps become easier to exploit.

Concern is Rising Because the Threat is Getting Harder to Spot

According to Geotab’s survey of 575 U.S. fleet operators, 34% said they had experienced a theft incident in the previous 12 months. At the same time, nearly a quarter of fleet professionals identified strategic theft, including fraud, identity theft, and falsified paperwork, as the biggest threat they face.

That is a notable shift for fleet managers accustomed to thinking about theft in more physical terms, such as unsecured parking, trailer tampering, or stolen equipment. In this newer model, the cargo may be handed over through what appears to be a legitimate transaction, only for the load to disappear into a much larger fraud network.

For the work truck audience, that makes this less about a single weak point and more about systemwide visibility. A lock can still matter, but it cannot verify who is authorized to pick up a load or flag a spoofed route in real time.

The Human Cost is Becoming Harder to Ignore

One of the stronger takeaways from the report is that cargo theft is not only hitting balance sheets. It is also hitting the people behind the wheel.

Geotab found that 47% of respondents believe the stress and personal safety risks tied to cargo theft are contributing to driver burnout and turnover. That finding lands in an industry already dealing with workforce pressure, recruiting challenges, and the very real limits of asking drivers to do more with less.

For fleets in the work truck space, that point may resonate as much as the theft totals themselves. Security strategies that rely too heavily on driver vigilance can add pressure without necessarily improving outcomes, especially when the threat involves falsified credentials or coordinated fraud that no driver could reasonably detect on their own.

Technology Adoption Still Isn’t Where Fleets Say it Should Be

Even with concern running high, the report shows many fleets are still somewhere between knowing what they need and actually deploying it.

While 58% of respondents said a layered strategy is the right approach, Geotab found that adoption remains uneven. Some fleets are leaning into GPS tracking, video telematics, smart locks, geofencing, and connected data systems. Others are still relying on more basic measures that were never designed for digitally coordinated theft.

That matters because modern cargo crime increasingly rewards speed, deception, and blind spots. If a fleet’s security tools do not work together, response time slows down, and verification gets harder. For bad actors, that is the opening.

Consumers are Starting to Connect Theft with Higher Costs

The report also suggests cargo theft is no longer invisible outside the fleet yard.

Geotab found that 30% of consumers believe they ultimately shoulder the financial burden through higher prices. That turns cargo theft into more than an internal operational issue. It becomes a customer-trust issue, too, especially as late, missing, or disrupted shipments gain more visibility across the supply chain.

For fleets and service providers, that raises the stakes. Lost freight is one problem, but lost confidence is another.

Fleets that want a deeper look at the numbers, threat trends, and technology recommendations can find more in Geotab’s full report, Securing the Supply Chain: A 2026 Blueprint for Countering Smarter Theft.