MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- If the average person is upset losing $20, one can only imagine how upset large companies shipping across Canada feel about losing almost nine billion dollars to cargo theft a year.

Canada’s insurance agencies are saying cargo thieves are becoming more aggressive, violent and frighteningly organized. Unfortunately, this means truckers are being subjected to an increased number of hijackings and sustaining injuries during these incidents.

The bad news doesn’t stop there -- it is estimated that for each theft reported, there are four that aren’t. Police believe money from the cargo thefts are used for drug and weapons trafficking, along with funding gang activities. The police investigate what they can but because of limited resources, there is a low success rate of prosecution for these criminals.

The Private Motor Truck Council has some ideas on how to combat this growing problem. With the assistance of insurance companies and the RCMP, they have compiled a security checklist for fleet operators. The checklist is available for free download at www.pmtc.ca.

The checklist is recommended for use by fleets that are looking to institute a security protocol or are looking to add to existing security practices. The checklist is divided in seven sections, designed to address different physical and personnel related practices found in most trucking operations.

To provide additional feedback on the checklist or to offer suggestions to add to the list, e-mail them at info@pmtc.ca, call them at 905-827-0587.