By Brad Morehouse
and Curt Morehouse









According to many industry reporting outlets, cargo theft has been on the rise and reached a record high in 2011. The US Cargo Theft Report shows the cargo theft rate rose 8.8% from 2010 with average losses of $319,000. With these numbers and the amount of incidents on the rise, many trucking companies and shippers need to increase their security protocols within their supply chains.

It’s easy to know when your entire truck and trailer has been stolen; it can be gone in minutes. Paying for that theft is painful for trucking companies and shippers alike. However what can be more aggravating and frustrating is paying for a load that has not been stolen, but instead has had the trailer seal compromised during transit before arriving to your customer’s location. With food product the main freight we haul, the seal has become just as important as getting the load delivered on time.

Our company, W N Morehouse Truck Line Inc based in Omaha NE, has made in-transit security a priority. More than 25 years ago, our father Jerry Morehouse Jr encountered a transportation security company, Transport Security Inc based in Waconia MN, at an annual trucking conference and discovered its new product for securing trailer doors. He invited company representatives to our offices and put the Enforcer Adjustable Trailer Lock through rigorous physical attacks. After working up a sweat and getting nowhere with the lock, he outfitted our entire fleet with the locks.

Fast-forward 25 years to today’s current trucking environment. As a trucking company, we are responsible for not only getting the load delivered on time and intact, but we also need to ensure that the inexpensive seal used to verify integrity of the shipments remains intact and on the trailer during transit of food or pharmaceutical products. Shippers have no choice but to refuse an entire load if they cannot verify integrity of the shipment through the entire supply chain process.

As trucking company owners, we imagined our fleet of almost 200 trailers and trucks parked in various parts of the country during shipments of our customer’s products becoming vulnerable. Something as simple as a driver from another company jokingly pulling a trailer seal off or a mischievous teenager “popping” a seal on a trailer loaded with frozen shrimp for fun can cost us thousands—if not hundreds of thousands—of dollars in claims, not to mention a customer possibly lost because of a missed delivery.

We foresaw this scenario before it ever happened to us. Transport Security Inc, which we had been working with for years, was the most obvious place to turn to for a security solution that could assist us in preventing such an incident from happening. It was able to offer a security solution that seamlessly fit into our operations: the Enforcer Seal Guard Lock for trailers. The Seal Guard Lock affixes to trailer doors over the trailer latch and completely encases and covers the trailer seal, preventing any tampering or unauthorized removal. The device is secured with a high-security padlock that resists physical attacks.

“With claims from trailer seals breakages ranging anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 per incident, it was a no-brainer to add the Enforcer Seal Guard Lock to our security protocols as it prevents these costly claims from occurring while in transit,” said Brad Morehouse, vice-president of Morehouse Trucking.

After taking time to evaluate the new security solution, we were able to implement this upgraded security feature within our entire fleet, providing not only an increase in security for our trailers but also a value-added service to our clients.

”We initially implemented the Enforcer Adjustable Door Locks to let us know that our load was secure while in transit, adding the Seal Guard Lock allows us to add another layer of security and show our customers that the load has not been compromised,” said Curt Morehouse.

We value our customers and took the initiative to see the issue occurring out there and combat the problem fleetwide, saving the company and our client’s money and headaches.

For complete details, visit www.morehousetruckline.com or www.transportsecurity.com.

About the authors: Brad Morehouse is vice-president and Curt Morehouse is secretary-treasurer of Morehouse Truck Line. The firm was started by William Newel Morehouse in 1932 as a one-man operation; it has grown to have more than 150 employees and operates an average of 120 trucks and 180 trailers.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Memphis, Tenn., business owner pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a cargo theft scheme that included a theft in West Plains, Mo.

Earl Stanley Nunn, 59, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to theft of an interstate shipment.

Nunn, the owner of Nu World Trucking, LLC, was the leader of a cargo theft ring that used the resources of Nu World Trucking to steal cargo in various states. They did so by “bob-tailing” (meaning they traveled in a road tractor truck, without a semi-trailer attached) through truck stops and service stations located on or near interstate highways, looking for semi-trailers that had been left parked and unattended, and were not coupled to road tractors. When they located a semi-trailer that appeared to be unattended, they would steal the semi-trailer and the goods it contained by coupling their road tractor truck to it and driving off. After having stolen a semi-trailer and its contents, they usually transported the stolen goods to the Chicago, Ill., and Detroit, Mich., areas to be “fenced” or sold.

Nunn’s co-conspirators included his nephew, Michael Lee Sherley, 49, of Memphis, Tenn. (who pleaded guilty on March 19, 2014), his son, Roderick Nunn (who pleaded guilty in a related case in the Western District of Michigan) and others.

The government plans to establish that co-conspirators committed thefts in various states, including Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

The specific charge to which both Nunn and Sherley pleaded guilty involves a theft that occurred on May 11, 2013, at the Snappy Mart Truck Stop in West Plains. Nunn and Sherley stole a 2000 Wabash trailer (valued at $7,500), which contained a load of Green Giant canned corn (valued at $73,008). The trailer, owned by Bryant Freight, LLC, was in transit from Minnesota to a food bank in Arkansas. Nunn and Sherley admitted that they traveled through Missouri and Indiana with the stolen cargo before being apprehended in Michigan.

Under federal statutes, Nunn and Sherley are each subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Mohlhenrich. It was investigated by the FBI’s Memphis Cargo Theft Task Force, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the West Plains, Mo., Police Department and the Michigan State Highway Patrol.

Original Article

Truckload Carriers Association: 2014 Annual Convention

Transport Security, Inc.- ENFORCER will be exhibiting Booth #614: Stop By and visit us to discuss your your fleet security needs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
  

(Press Release) - Mar. 20, 2014 - Waconia, MN - Transport Security, Inc.- ENFORCER® will be exhibiting their high security locking solutions for the trucking industry  at this year’s Truckload Carriers Association 2014  Annual Meeting in Grapevine , TX  March 23, 2014
through March 26, 2014

About Transport Security, Inc.

Transport Security, Inc. - ENFORCER® is a leading cargo security company that has been providing high security solutions for the transportation, supply chain and retail sectors for over 35 years. The ENFORCER® Line of high security locks, C-TPAT security seal solutions, covert GPS tracking technologies set the standard for the industry.

Security within the transportation/shipping industry has evolved substantially in recent years due to the increased risks in theft. In the United States, alone cargo theft accumulates for $15 billion in annual losses.

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Mission Statement

Transport Security, Inc. products meet need for high quality security products that security professionals demand. We take great pride in offering these products to you with "off the shelf" speed, while time is taken to tailor each product to your specific needs.