Every day, billions of dollars' worth of goods move through Tennessee by truck, train, plane and ship. With the busiest cargo airport in the U.S., five Class I railroads, the third busiest trucking corridor and the fifth largest inland port, Memphis is home to one of the world's busiest cargo hubs and a critical link in America’s supply chain network.
This gateway to international commerce is also becoming a favorite target for multi-state and international crime.
In recent years, organized cargo theft has become an increasingly serious problem across the Memphis area and greater Tennessee. Criminal organizations have targeted trucks, rail shipments, warehouses and distribution centers throughout the state, stealing high-value freight worth millions
of dollars and disrupting supply chains that businesses and families depend on every day.
This isn't simply theft. It's a growing threat to our national security and economy.
The widespread consequences of organized crime
The sophisticated criminal organizations behind these crimes don't operate like opportunistic thieves. They use fraudulent identities, fictitious trucking companies, cyber-enabled fraud and coordinated networks that stretch across multiple states – and often beyond our borders – to hijack freight before it ever reaches its destination.
When they succeed, the consequences extend far beyond the value of the stolen cargo.
Manufacturers face production delays because critical components never arrive. Retailers struggle to keep shelves stocked. Farmers and food producers encounter costly disruptions. Consumers ultimately pay higher prices. Every successful cargo theft also exposes vulnerabilities in the supply chains that move not only commercial goods, but many of the products essential to America's economic resilience and security.
For Tennessee, the stakes are especially high.
The state has built one of the nation's strongest logistics economies. Thousands of Tennesseans work in trucking, freight rail, warehousing, manufacturing and distribution. Businesses have invested billions of dollars to make Tennessee a global supply chain leader because they know products can move efficiently and reliably from here to virtually anywhere.
Organized cargo theft threatens that competitive advantage.
The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act
According to the FBI, cargo theft has surged nationwide in recent years as organized criminal enterprises have become more sophisticated and more coordinated. These networks exploit gaps between jurisdictions, move stolen freight through complex resale markets and often operate faster than law enforcement agencies can effectively coordinate across state lines.
This national problem demands a national response.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty have recognized the urgency of this challenge by co-sponsoring the bipartisan Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA). Their leadership demonstrates a clear commitment to protecting Tennessee businesses, supporting law enforcement and defending the supply chains that power our state's economy.
CORCA would provide federal law enforcement with stronger tools to investigate, coordinate and dismantle the organized criminal enterprises responsible for cargo theft and organized retail crime. Instead of allowing sophisticated criminal networks to exploit fragmented enforcement efforts, the legislation would improve information sharing and strengthen the federal response needed to stop these operations.
The House has already overwhelmingly passed CORCA. Now it's time for the Senate to finish the job.
Why the Senate must act now
Congress has an opportunity to include CORCA in the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act – a fitting vehicle for legislation which aims to strengthen America’s national defense, critical infrastructure and supply chain security, while helping to defend America's economic competitiveness against nefarious actors working to undermine our systems.
Sens. Blackburn and Hagerty have done their part by championing this commonsense, bipartisan solution. Now the full Senate should follow their lead and swiftly pass CORCA as part of the forthcoming NDAA vote.
Protecting Tennessee's supply chains means protecting Tennessee jobs, Tennessee businesses and the security of the nation itself. Congress should act before these transnational criminal networks grow even stronger.
Chris Spear is the President and CEO of the American Trucking Association, and Ian Jefferies is the President and CEO of the Association of American Railroads.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: The growing crime threat that's costing Tennessee consumers | Opinion
