The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies has joined the CargoNet initiative, a national database and secure information sharing network designed to combat cargo theft in the U.S.


"Cargo theft causes significant direct and indirect losses throughout the supply chain, and left unchecked, it results in an economic drain to shippers, carriers and, ultimately, consumers," said Pat Stoik, vice president of Chubb & Son, and Chubb's global commercial inland marine manager. "A national database will make it easier to spot cargo theft trends and develop effective loss prevention techniques."

The database, which will be managed by ISO and launched in early 2010, will leverage existing databases with additional secure reporting and analytic functions to share cargo theft information among theft victims, insurers and law enforcement. In addition to these integrated databases, CargoNet will include a theft alert system; law enforcement task force investigative support through the National Insurance Crime Bureau; a tractor-trailer theft deterrence program; a Truck Stop Watch program; driver education and incentives; secondary market monitoring and interdiction; crime trend analysis; and training and education through an outreach program.