Western Railroad Discussion > Combatting freight theft

The USA Today network has an advocacy piece urging US Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) to support CORCA. This bipartisan bill, passed by the House with an overwhelming vote, would expand resources necessary to stop theft of interstate cargo. There's no centralized follow up, no spotting patterns, many agencies each doing their own local thing. And the stolen products end up in industrial supply chains, sold on the internet, in dollar stores, etc.

The piece goes into detail about how fragmented the tracking and arrest process. Many different agencies on the local, state, and federal level are involved. As are the freight shippers, truckers, etc. Although Mr Booker has been an advocate of better freight security over the years (Port Newark / Elizabeth, etc), I'm sure similar advocacy pieces have been tailed for other markets with other senators.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/2026/07/07/cargo-theft-costs-nj-millions-sen-booker-must-back-reforms-opinion/90822554007/

Here is what needs to happen:  Congress needs to enact legislation to make theft or vandalism (including tagging with graffiti) occurring to any equipment or facilities used in interstate commerce a federal felony, with a minimum 5-year federal prison sentence with no early release upon conviction--with the penalty doubling for any subsequent conviction.  Then give railroad Special Agents deputy federal law enforcement certification to enforce that federal law on railroad property.  Then watch theft and vandalism on railroad property and equipment drop to near zero.  The same law would apply to trucks, barges, and even airplanes used in interstate commerce, potentially even private vehicles being used in interstate commerce.  Funny, how some people can't understand that, when the people who commit crimes get arrested, tried, convicted, and imprisoned, a lot of crime stops happening.

WW Wrote:
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> Here is what needs to happen:  Congress needs to
> enact legislation to make theft or vandalism
> (including tagging with graffiti) occurring to any
> equipment or facilities used in interstate
> commerce a federal felony, with a minimum 5-year
> federal prison sentence with no early release upon
> conviction--with the penalty doubling for any
> subsequent conviction.  Then give railroad
> Special Agents deputy federal law enforcement
> certification to enforce that federal law on
> railroad property.  Then watch theft and
> vandalism on railroad property and equipment drop
> to near zero.  The same law would apply to
> trucks, barges, and even airplanes used in
> interstate commerce, potentially even private
> vehicles being used in interstate commerce. 
> Funny, how some people can't understand that, when
> the people who commit crimes get arrested, tried,
> convicted, and imprisoned, a lot of crime stops
> happening.

Theft of interstate commerce, yes, absolutely.

But if you think a judge is going to sentence some kids with cans of spray paint to 5 years in prison for tagging, and that law enforcement is going to go after taggers instead of people ripping off millions of dollars in cargo, you aren't living in reality. 

WW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------






>  Then watch theft and
> vandalism on railroad property and equipment drop
> to near zero.  The same law would apply to
> trucks, barges, and even airplanes used in
> interstate commerce, potentially even private
> vehicles being used in interstate commerce. 
> Funny, how some people can't understand that, when
> the people who commit crimes get arrested, tried,
> convicted, and imprisoned, a lot of crime stops
> happening.
  Exactly!!! Say for example somebody trashes the capitol. Yeah!! That's how it works!...oh, wait, never mind.  

WW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here is what needs to happen:  Congress needs to
> enact legislation to make theft or vandalism
> (including tagging with graffiti) occurring to any
> equipment or facilities used in interstate
> commerce a federal felony, with a minimum 5-year
> federal prison sentence with no early release upon
> conviction--with the penalty doubling for any
> subsequent conviction.  Then give railroad
> Special Agents deputy federal law enforcement
> certification to enforce that federal law on
> railroad property.  Then watch theft and
> vandalism on railroad property and equipment drop
> to near zero.  The same law would apply to
> trucks, barges, and even airplanes used in
> interstate commerce, potentially even private
> vehicles being used in interstate commerce
> Funny, how some people can't understand that, when
> the people who commit crimes get arrested, tried,
> convicted, and imprisoned, a lot of crime stops
> happening.

Funny how people can't understand that our  society does not work  in  the ways you suggest. The courts would challenge mandatory sen tensing . The time served has to be weighed against the severity of the crime. I  agree with and get your frustration.  I   would love to see trains without  trailers broken into . I would love to see trains and railroad property  without graffiti. Increased penalty's would help. It would also help if the Class 1's would beef up their railroad police departments to the levels they had before  PSR cost cutting began. When people broke into the capital building, vandalized  and disrupted congress the threat of "Federal Crimes" became far  less onerous.

If the railroads don't care, why should the taxpayers who have to house these people for 5 years under your plan?

Once the railroads start to care, then we can talk. How many thousands of special agent positions have they eliminated? How many trains do they let sit unattended for 12 hours in the middle of nowhere because they don't want to pay another crew start? Why should us taxpayers foot the bill when the railroads are doing the bare minimum?

Another thread barking about symptoms of a problem, but not the actual problem.

Band-Aids only work so much. At some point, here in the US, the need for constant Band-Aids needs to be addressed.

If I live in a crime ridden neighborhood I would secure my house better with window bars and more secure deadbolts.  The railroad should be doing the same or requiring the same for their loads.  Cargo containers can be better secured that getting into them requires significant effort with a grinder. Thieves are not going to bother if they have to go to that much trouble. It is too easy to break into a container.  As mentioned, I certainly don't want to pay for federal regulation when the victim lets them be victimized.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

Theft of interstate commerce and tagging are both enabled by lax enforcement of trespassing laws.

I pass everyday through an urban freight yard that has bold, unafraid taggers hauling stepladders and boxes of spray paint into the yard … in broad daylight.

And for those unaware, these are not kids with spray paint. In a predominantly minority & immigrant neighborhood, the taggers are exclusively white mid-20s males. Not gang related. And likely trustafarians, as they don’t work during the day.

I don’t understand why the railroad makes ZERO effort to curtail this activity.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/26 11:39 by Highspeed.

Highspeed Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Theft of interstate commerce and tagging are both
> enabled by lax enforcement of trespassing laws.
>
> I pass everyday through an urban freight yard that
> has bold, unafraid taggers hauling stepladders and
> boxes of spray paint into the yard … in broad
> daylight.
>
> And for those unaware, these are not kids with
> spray paint. In a predominantly black
> neighborhood, the taggers are exclusively white
> mid-20s males. Not gang related. And likely
> trustafarians, as they don’t work during the
> day.
>
> I don’t understand why the railroad makes ZERO
> effort to curtail this activity.

Well that would require the Railroad to actually have a working Police Department. And since that does not add to the bottom line it ain't going to happen.

longliveSP Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Another thread barking about symptoms of a
> problem, but not the actual problem.
>
> Band-Aids only work so much. At some point, here
> in the US, the need for constant Band-Aids needs
> to be addressed.


The bill actually goes up the chain. Looking for the fences, the dollar stores and internet portals that sell the stolen stuff, etc.The

But, I agree that laying off entire railway police departments suggests railroads don't care.

Posted from Android

"Congress needs to enact legislation..."

Wouldn't it be simpler to make the containers a little more secure?  The current closure method is so insecure as to almost invite theft.  Sure, nothing is completely secure, but if improvements are made to extend the time it may take to break in, then that in itself improves security.  

okcrr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If the railroads don't care, why should the
> taxpayers who have to house these people for 5
> years under your plan?
>
> Once the railroads start to care, then we can
> talk. How many thousands of special agent
> positions have they eliminated? How many trains do
> they let sit unattended for 12 hours in the middle
> of nowhere because they don't want to pay another
> crew start? Why should us taxpayers foot the bill
> when the railroads are doing the bare minimum?

I do wonder *how many* RR police positions have been eliminated in the "PSR" hyper-shareholder-return-only era. Are we at 1% of historical levels or 50%? I'd bet on the lower end of that range, but the actual number kinda matters. Such data should include private contractor "Pinkerton" types recently hired out to patrol places like Cajon,

And I would heartily agree that keeping the wheels turning "in the middle of nowhere" would have "all stakeholders" benefits (to shareholders as well as shippers and employees) well beyond reducing break-in theft from containers. In that case perhaps only modest increases in RR police staffing within 100 miles of major terminals where trains would wait or get tied down when terminals are congested would be sufficient to deter and enforce.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/26 17:24 by pbouzide.

I think there has been an up tick in actual RR police hiring too, which doesn't say much.  I think in colo we have 5 special agents between the 2 railroads.    Be neat to see retail theft get some more attention too!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/26 14:04 by dan.

a737flyer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Congress needs to enact legislation..."
>
> Wouldn't it be simpler to make the containers a
> little more secure?  The current closure method
> is so insecure as to almost invite theft.  Sure,
> nothing is completely secure, but if improvements
> are made to extend the time it may take to break
> in, then that in itself improves security.  

I think the challenge here is if a design change to the container is made, how do you effectively retrofit it on to the 50 million plus ISO containers in circulation world wide?  The ISO container standard is pretty rigid about the standardized design, so even getting a change/modification adopted would take a long time.  Also, if the issue occurs primarily in transit on North American railways, I could see the shipping lines who own the container fleets push back on them having to take on the cost of modifying their cans for a problem that they likely view as the railways.

Some of the marine containers seen going east through Tucson have the new black metal bar that goes across the very top of the container door. It appears to be either a single solid bar or a two piece. It's probably a new type of door bar "lock" that attaches, somehow, to the side of the container.

Keith_Kevet

Posted from Android

There were never thousands of special agents on the railroads in the US.  They do collaborate with local police, sheriff's, State Agencies, FBI, DEA when they are available, or working a task force-also depends on politics and availability of other resources.  The real issue is there are more railfans out around the desert than there are police types.  The theives out there are more heavily armed then the police.  Chasing down criminals on trains and the right of way unless you have line of site view or overhead on a two mile long train just does not happen very often.  These are the realities.  Investing in making equipment so it is tamper proof should be worth the investment.  Another area is Cyber Security for load hijacking.  It is estimated overall freight theft from all transportation activity in the US is $18M per day.  Thieves have a lot of information and know what areas, equipment types, and insider information to make the choices of what they attack.  They bring out portable torches, gas powered metal cutting saws, other tools, and have trucks on the right of way to haul items away.  For the railroads, train delay, equipment damage, and safety issue to train crews, and even the criminals safety is an issue.  One of my jobs on the Santa Fe was managing a group of departments and the Police Department was one of them.  We equipped our people with night vision goggles, SUV's, dogs, high powered rifles, and anything they thought would help them out in the field.

Jim Wilson

All the RR police, arrests, court time and costs will get you no where as long as the cry baby system has lawyers whiney begging the judges to just give probation for his client on arrest #37 and he promises #%*%@$% to be better. And the client is out tagging or breaking in again tonight. Everything is a total waste till that changes.

Posted from Android

okcrr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If the railroads don't care, why should the
> taxpayers who have to house these people for 5
> years under your plan?
>
> Once the railroads start to care, then we can
> talk. How many thousands of special agent
> positions have they eliminated? How many trains do
> they let sit unattended for 12 hours in the middle
> of nowhere because they don't want to pay another
> crew start? Why should us taxpayers foot the bill
> when the railroads are doing the bare minimum?

BINGO--perfectly said!!!!!!

okcrr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If the railroads don't care, why should the
> taxpayers who have to house these people for 5
> years under your plan?
>
> Once the railroads start to care, then we can
> talk. How many thousands of special agent
> positions have they eliminated? How many trains do
> they let sit unattended for 12 hours in the middle
> of nowhere because they don't want to pay another
> crew start? Why should us taxpayers foot the bill
> when the railroads are doing the bare minimum?

The RRs care, this is about money spent and return on investment.   If the RRs were to triple their special agent forces, and hand over 3 times as many suspects to the local authorities-- and they just come right back out after a wrist slap, what's the return on investment?   The RRs dont own the court systems and can only apprehend/remove.   And in a civilized society a RR company should expect a train that has to sit waiting on a crew to not be completely looted.    Some of these crooks aren't even citizens.