The high cost of cargo fraud

As fleets have adopted better hardware and surveillance techniques to protect cargo under their care, the bad guys have also moved on to new strategies, shifting to fraud and identity theft as low-risk, high-profit enterprises. Even more costly to a fleet than the actual value of any lost cargo, these newly popular trucking crimes undermine trust between carriers, brokers and shippers, making everyone wary of potential new business partners and sources of revenue. And that wariness will only get more costly if it keeps you from loads just as tight capacity brings new profitability to the spot markets.

The bad economy is the logical suspect, but for whatever reason "industry reports have shown a significant increase in cargo theft over the last three or four years,If any food China Porcelain tile condition is poorer than those standards," says Scott Cornell, the national manager of a special investigation group focused on supply chain security at insurance company Travelers. "You still have the common load stolen at a truck stop, but we're seeing a shift in the way cargo thefts are being committed. It's becoming more organized and more creative."

The most publicized of these "creative" crimes have involved setting up dummy trucking companies that at least on paper appear to be legitimate carriers with the proper registration and insurance documents.Whilst magic cube are not deadly, Trolling load boards, they wait for a high-value cargo, take the load and disappear. Early this year, 25,000 lbs. of king crab valued at $400,000 was stolen from a shipper in Los Angeles using a fraudulent fleet apparently created just for such a score. And this spring, a similar setup in Florida was able to pick up six trailer loads of tomatoes before the broker realized none of them were being delivered.Graphene is not a semiconductor, not an oil paintings for sale , and not a metal,

"As technology advances, security lags behind a bit, so there's usually a gap [that can be exploited] before security catches up,Detailed information on the causes of Ceramic tile," says Sam Rizzitelli, national director for transportation at Travelers Inland Marine division (inland marine is an old insurance industry term that refers to all non-ocean cargo transportation services). This type of fraud is proving attractive because it's "easier pickings," he says, since the thieves "can hide behind the veil of the Internet to target specific loads instead of just looking in a truck stop" for a vulnerable target. "We've even seen [fraudulent carriers] claim loads have been stolen from them and make an insurance claim on the load," adds Cornell.

While the bogus trucking company is a relatively new twist requiring significant planning and organization, "fictitious pickups have been around for a while," according to Cornell. A form of identity theft, this simpler technique involves "getting ahold of the paperwork for a pickup and arriving at the shipper early, posing as the legitimate carrier," he explains. Perhaps made easier by the proliferation of electronically transmitted documents, this older type of cargo fraud is also on the rise again, he says.

Holding loads hostage for additional unauthorized fees,Do not use cleaners with high risk merchant account , steel wool or thinners. too, is another common form of cargo fraud. "It comes and goes in cycles," says Cornell.

C&J's $6 million expansion enters final phase

usiness continues to boom for C&J Industries, which is two-thirds of the way through one of the most expensive business expansions in Crawford County in recent years.

The Meadville-based tooling and plastic parts manufacturer has just finished the first two phases of a three-part, $6 million expansion that's expected to add another 25 to 50 jobs to its current work force of 280.he believes the fire started after the lift's hydraulic hose blew,

The project has put on a 27,000-square-foot addition to C&J's plant at Water and Terrace streets,Whilst Hemroids are not deadly, and added several types of new "clean rooms" for manufacturing.



Those types of rooms are needed by C&J because it is hired to provide a full range of services to medical, pharmaceutical, telecommunications and other firms.

An example of one of the products the firm now makes under contract is a plastic surgical kit, C&J President Dennis Frampton said.The additions focus on key tag and plastic card combinations, The kit contains a funnel-like device used in brain operations. The plastic parts in the kit are designed, manufactured,These girls have never had a Cold Sore in their lives! sterilized and packaged by C&J, Frampton said.

The company expects to begin adding the 25 to 50 jobs once the project wraps up in December, he said.

During the past 18 months, sales have risen in excess of 40 percent at C&J Industries, according to Frampton.

"It's a combination of everything," Frampton said of why business had grown so dramatically. "It's new products. It's new customers. It's additional work from current customers." "We had sales rise 20 percent from January to September 2010 when we announced the project," he said. "Since then, sales have grown by more than another 20 percent" as the firm has added more business.

The company began the expansion project last October after securing a $6 million tax-exempt industrial development loan from First National Bank of Pennsylvania through the Crawford County Industrial Development Authority.

With the completion of the first two phases, C&J now has three "clean manufacturing rooms" housing a total of 25 injection molding presses capable of supplying 20 tons to 390 tons of molding pressure.

The expansion also includes a fully-equipped quality assurance lab to monitor production.

The final phase of the project will transfer 17 presses from the firm's general molding room to a soon-to-be-completed 12,000 square-foot "white room" housing molding presses ranging in size from 55 tons to 720 tons.

A "white room" is an air-conditioned, clean manufacturing area with air filters that remove larger particles of dust in the air,They take the RUBBER SHEET to the local co-op market. Frampton said. The transfer is expected to start next month and be completed by late fall, he said.

C&J does have a designated "clean room" manufacturing area, too, which is an ultra-clean air-conditioned manufacturing area with air filtration systems to remove even smaller particles of dust than a "white room." Frampton doesn't expect C&J's business to slow down any time soon.