Embracing Technology adoption to combat Cargo Theft

Cargo theft in the air freight industry is becoming rampant and gradually increasing every year. The latest estimates by IATA estimates a minimum annual loss of US$1 billion due to Cargo Theft. North American and European markets are relatively the most affected due to this. IATA and other regulatory bodies along with the governments of all countries globally are working to bring on a robust mechanism powered by technology to tackle Cargo Theft.

Yet, there is a gradual increase in the number of incidents every passing year. Freight facility, warehouse, trucks, in-transit area, unsecured parking locations are some of the common places where Cargo Theft are currently taking place. A strong cyber security law is in the making to handle this situation with a risk mitigation framework designed by the regulatory bodies and governments.

Here are some digital solutions which can assist the stakeholders to avoid Cargo Theft. A Cargo Community System is a holistic platform that connects all stakeholders such as cargo ground handlers, freight forwarders and others. This will enable them to have end-to-end status update sharing through IATA and United Nations recommended EDI messaging formats.

Moreover, regular status updates are shared through mobile and portals. Therefore, stakeholders can detect the status of cargo movement at all levels and in case of threats they could enable improved freight security. Also, a Cargo Community system offers various functional benefits to make the air freight operations seamless. Leveraging Technology to Choose Safer Routes Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning is widely utilised in a Cargo Community System quite widely.

Autonomous vehicles and 3D printing are some of the innovative technologies through which a Cargo Community System is looking to achieve trade facilitation. In the meantime, it is notable that AI offers predictive capabilities to study demand slump as well as surge. Also, it will enable the truck drivers to choose safer routes. For example, if a specific route is seen an area prone to cargo theft, the AI system will choose a safer route.

Transparency in Operations with Blockchain Enabled Technologies Like AI/ML, Blockchain is yet another technology which is widely utilised in logistics/supply chain applications. Bringing in data transparency in a complex industry like logistics is the primary motto behind utilizing Blockchain to enable seamless operations and transparency of data. With Blockchain, every single transaction will be recorded in the common log and comes under scrutiny.

Therefore, Blockchain could to a large extent assist in tackling the issue of Cargo Theft. Not only Cargo Community System, even various enterprise applications meant to cater to specific stakeholder needs are powered by AI/ML or Blockchain. Enabling the applications such as Cargo Community systems, logistics e-marketplace system and regulatory single window system are some of the few next-gen technologies to transform the logistics industry. If these systems are well implemented across the ecosystem, to a large extent the issue of Cargo Theft can be handled.