Transport Theft Surge: How Criminals Steal Cars in Transit and What Owners Can Do

Imagine loading your cherished machine into a car hauler and instructing the driver to meet you days later at a distant location where you’ll take the wheel for a long-planned road trip. You fly to the meeting spot halfway across the country, but the hauler, its driver, and your car never arrive. Calls to the shipper go unanswered. You contact the police, but they’re unsure which state has jurisdiction. Your car, the reward you saved decades for, has vanished—never to be seen again.

Minus the road trip, that nightmare scenario happened last October to basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal. It’s called Transport Theft. Thieves pose as owners or brokers to intercept cars in transit and take illegal delivery. The truck driver, usually an unwitting participant, literally hands over the keys.

Transport Theft: A Growing Crisis

Hagerty’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU), a claims department team, alerted the company to the rising trend of Transport Theft. Eric Weiner, a colleague, dug into the data and uncovered staggering figures:

• Cargo theft—including cars—has surged over 1,000% in the past five years.
• The trucking industry loses approximately $18 million daily to cargo theft.

While the theft of cash and cargo is not new, Transport Theft has intensified in the car-shipping industry since the pandemic. The shift to out-of-state, all-digital transactions since 2020 has created fertile ground for criminals.

Historical Context: Theft on a Massive Scale

The criminal element’s involvement in high-value cargo is not unprecedented. In 1978, thieves raided $5 million in cash and jewelry worth nearly $30 million in today’s dollars from JFK Airport. The haul was never recovered, only one person was arrested, and the heist was later dramatized in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas.

Expert Insight: The Playbook Spreads

Dereck Tharp, a senior Hagerty SIU investigator monitoring California, has observed the dramatic rise of Transport Theft over the last five years. “Somebody starts doing it, and if another criminal organization gets ahold of the playbook, then it just intensifies. One group turns into several in a hurry,” Tharp explained.

How to Protect Your Car from Transport Theft

Eric Weiner outlines several steps car owners can take to safeguard their vehicles:

• Use reputable carriers with rigorous driver vetting and transparent tracking.
• Verify credentials of brokers and drivers before shipment.
• Insist on real-time tracking and direct communication with the driver.
• Consider higher-cost, high-service options like Reliable Carriers, which Hagerty Drivers Club members can access at a 10% discount.

“Personally, whenever possible, I use Reliable Carriers to move my cars,” said Weiner. “The company vets its drivers, sticks to a set schedule, and treats your car like the treasure that it is.”

NASCAR Update: Drama at Watkins Glen

In unrelated news, NASCAR raced at Watkins Glen last weekend, a favorite venue for the stock car series. The historic New York road course delivered late-race drama as usual. Connor Zilisch, the 19-year-old sensation profiled earlier this year, chased down Jesse Love in the final laps of the NASCAR O’Reilly race.