Crime rings have targeted Ceva Logistics in eight separate incidents over the past year in which tractor trailers filled with high-value electronics valued at more than $18.3 million were stolen, according to a person with inside knowledge of the situation.
The thefts stem from repeated breakdowns in security policy, often related to outsourcing loads to unvetted motor carriers and leaving trailers in unsecured warehouse yards, the source told FreightWaves.
Ceva Logistics, the sixth-largest third-party logistics provider in the world by revenue, is not alone in being victimized by multiple cargo thefts. Freight-related crime is on the rise. According to Verisk CargoNet, cargo theft activity in North America increased 27% year over year in 2024, with $455 million worth of goods stolen in 3,625 reported incidents. The number of cargo theft incidents is likely much higher because many shippers are reluctant to report losses for reputational or security reasons.
Verisk provides risk management services to the global insurance industry. CargoNet is a product that helps members prevent cargo theft and recover stolen freight by facilitating secure information sharing between participating companies, business partners and law enforcement.
Cargo theft incidents in the second quarter increased 13% from the same period a year ago and 9.8% from the first quarter, Verisk CargoNet reported. Thieves took $64 million in freight, with warehouses accounting for more than 40% of the stolen trailers.
“We have clients that will wake up one day and realize they’ve got 20 or 30 thefts of the same commodity that are upwards of a million plus dollars each. And a couple days ago, we had seven loads of energy drinks stolen from one victim carrier. So it’s not unusual to have these clusters of high value theft,” said Keith Lewis, vice president of operations for Verisk CargoNet, in a phone interview.
Truck heists either take place over a period of time during which the logistics provider that tenders shipments to partner carriers doesn’t realize that “because of sloppy business practices all these loads we’ve shipped for the past month haven’t been delivered. Or, it could be they get hit in a lightning fashion for many loads over a couple of days,” he said.
FreightWaves recently reported on the theft of a truck trailer under Ceva management that contained $15 million in Apple products and AMD semiconductors. Police in Reno, Nevada, recovered the empty trailer, but have not indicated any progress in the investigation. The trailer had a GPS tracker from Austin, Texas-based security provider Overhaul, but it was not activated, the source said. The theft has the hallmarks of inside collaborator since the GPS was not activated, the yard was unsecured and the trailer was stolen within an hour of arrival, according to the person with knowledge of the situation.
In May, two people were arrested for stealing nearly $288,000 worth of Apple watches and MacBooks from a truck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, according to local news accounts. The source said Ceva was responsible for transporting the load.
Ceva Logistics has also suffered several other losses of high-value shipments in the past year, the person familiar with the company’s transportation operations and security said. They include:
- August 2024 — A $5.9 million shipment of Verizon TracFone mobile phone equipment in Plainfield, Indiana. The source said Verizon subsequently terminated its contract with Ceva.
- November 2024 — $750,000 shipment of Lenovo computers stolen in Fontana, California.
- December 2024 — $838,000 in Apple products stolen in Fontana, California.
- February 2025 — $1.1 million in Apple products in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
- March 2025 — $1.1 million in Apple products in Sacramento, California.
- April 2025 — A $212,000 shipment of Lenovo computers in Fontana.
Ceva Logistics, which provides end-to-end contract logistics for customers, uses several methods of truck transportation. It has a fleet of company trucks and drivers,company trucks operated by independent contractors and outsources loads to independent carriers.
It is standard practice for Ceva to use motor carriers on an approved list, but some of those transportation providers violate their contracts by hiring unapproved carriers or truck brokers to executive the move, the source said. In those cases, Ceva cannot enforce its security policies.
Double brokering is a common practice in the trucking industry, but it has also become an avenue for criminal enterprises to pose as legitimate carriers through use of fake documentation and driver identities to steal cargo, or trick the shipper into paying them instead of the legitimate carrier. Fictitious pickups often involve inside information to know when, and where, a load is ready.
Alison Jahn, head of marketing and communications for Ceva Logistics North America, did not respond to a reporter’s query about the truck thefts and Ceva’s security practices. Apple’s media department also didn’t reply to a request for comment on the rash of thefts under Ceva’s control.
Another popular trucking scam, said Lewis, is altering a scanned bill of lading to reflect a new piece count or weight. When a retailer issues a purchase order to a manufacturer that is spread across dozens or more loads and is regularly receiving pallets on an open ticket an unscrupulous trucker can siphon off some loads without the consignee realizing it for weeks or months.
The person with close knowledge of Ceva’s operations said many of the thefts stemmed from violations of other security policies, such as allowing unauthorized trucks or drivers into the yard or not verifying proper identification.
Ceva is self-insured and pays out losses with its own money, the source said.
The insider described Ceva as slow to hold managers accountable or plug security gaps, such as at the Sacramento warehouse where a CCTV system has not worked since late December. Since the February heist there, the company has been using trailer-mounted mobile cameras from ECAM.
An audit on Ground Operations’ adherence to security policy for high-value goods, obtained by FreightWaves, shows that truck heists have been a problem at Ceva for years. The document shows a $7.3 million loss of Western Digital hard drives for a load outsourced to HKL Express in 2020 when trailers were parked in an unsecured yard. Between 2021 and 2023, Ground Operations’ audit grades for security ranged from poor to fair.
Meanwhile, Ceva’s North American headquarters building in Houston was infiltrated by thieves seeking copper earlier this month. The source said a back door to the employee parking lot was left propped open because employees don’t like to check in with badges at the front desk, allowing thieves to get inside and steal some goods. The building is supposed to have higher security standards as a Transportation Security Administration certified cargo screening facility for air cargo shipments.
Two years ago, Ceva Logistics selected Overhaul, a supply chain visibility, risk management, and security provider, to improve and optimize cargo security for its high-value goods in North America. Under the contract, Ceva proactively receives real-time risk alerts on every shipment to help prevent cargo thefts, as well as predictive intelligence. Overhaul also aids in the recovery of lost cargo, utilizing secure communications to send pertinent shipment details, location tracking and other information to law enforcement.
Overhaul boasts a 99.9% shipment protection rate.
The company reported a total of 525 cargo theft incidents in the U.S. during the second quarter, up 4% from the first quarter and 33% from the prior year.
(UPDATED 1:30 p.m. ET)
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Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.
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