The Reality
Road freight moves the world.
It also bleeds quietly.
In countries like South Africa and Nigeria, drivers navigate routes where armed hijacking is routine. Security managers know the problem exists but face chronic underreporting. Drivers face violence, with little protection and even less recourse.
Companies lose 2–4% of revenue to cargo crime—a figure most boards accept as a cost of operating. But the real loss is invisible: the incidents that never surface, the patterns that stay hidden, the decisions made without data.
The industry has detection tools. What it lacks is the ability to act on what it detects. Detection without response is surveillance. Response without intelligence is guesswork.
76%
of cargo theft in transit targets trucks directly—not warehouses, not ports.
TT Club / BSI Intelligence
€475M
in cargo stolen across EMEA annually. The true figure is likely far higher.
TAPA EMEA Intelligence System
95%
of incidents go unreported. Fear, complexity, and lack of follow-through suppress the signal.
TAPA EMEA