Cargo theft costs trucking $18 million a day as lame-duck clock ticks

Organized cargo theft is draining U.S. trucking of $18 million every day — roughly $6.6 billion a year — and one of the bills aimed at fighting it sits within reach of passage as Congress returns for a five-week lame-duck session. Lawmakers came back Nov. 9 after midterms that will flip control of both chambers next session. Republicans still hold power until January, but only if they stay unified; outgoing senators could splinter the caucus. Democrats, meanwhile, may prefer a short-term budget bill to gain spending leverage once they take the majority.

What does that change for trucking? Quite a lot, if the arithmetic holds. Bills that have already cleared major committees or one chamber have the best odds of surviving the compressed calendar. Here's what's on the table.

CORCA: enforcement muscle against theft rings

The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, sponsored by Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio) — re-elected and returning — passed the House 348-60 in May. It would create a multiagency division to tackle retail theft, which smaller carriers in particular say is damaging their businesses, according to American Trucking Associations' Law Enforcement Advisory Board. The Senate companion has been offered as an amendment to the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. At ATA's management conference, cargo theft expert Scott Cornell described theft rings targeting freight with growing precision.

DERA: fleet renewal money

The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, sponsored by Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), reauthorizes grants and rebates for replacing and retrofitting older diesel trucks and engines. The House has approved it, and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works reported it favorably.

"DERA has helped accelerate the deployment of cleaner, more efficient trucks while supporting the movement of America's freight," said Henry Hanscom, ATA's chief advocacy and public affairs officer. Carriers, he added, can keep modernizing fleets with fuel savings and further emissions cuts.

Household goods: penalties and registration teeth

The Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act would let FMCSA "assess civil penalties against motor carriers, brokers and freight forwarders for violations related to the interstate transportation of household goods." Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) sponsor it; its provisions were folded into the BUILD America 250 Act, and the Senate Commerce Committee reported it favorably earlier this year.

"This bill would provide FMCSA with explicit authority to assess civil penalties for violations of commercial regulations, and crucially, to withhold registration from applicants failing to provide verification details demonstrating they intend to operate legitimate businesses," Norton said when the bill was introduced. Fischer has pointed to Nebraska businesses hit by international organized crime syndicates active in freight fraud.

Veterans into cabs

Two workforce bills could also clear. The Veterans Transition to Trucking Act, sponsored by Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) — who moves to the Senate next Congress — passed the House by voice vote in May. It lets the Department of Veterans Affairs streamline approval for certain apprenticeship programs partnering with the VA; Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) carries the Senate version.

The TRANSPORT Jobs Act, from outgoing Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.), requires DOT to build a public plan identifying barriers for veterans and armed forces members seeking supply chain jobs, and challenges companies to recruit, hire and retain them. It passed the House last year and was included in the BUILD America 250 Act.

TWIC cards before release

The TWIC Efficiency Act, from Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.), directs TSA to help prisoners pre-apply for transportation worker identification credentials — required for secure areas of maritime facilities and vessels — before release, including appeals of ineligibility rulings. It passed the House in September.

"A man's character shouldn't be measured by how he falls, it should be measured by how he stands back up," co-sponsor Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) said. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) introduced companion legislation Sept. 23.

The highway funding asterisk

The bigger risk is surface transportation money. The House hasn't brought the BUILD America 250 Act to a floor vote, and the Senate hasn't introduced its multiyear reauthorization of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. September's stopgap extends programs only through Dec. 11 — and it excluded $36.8 billion in advance appropriations.

Fiscal 2027 appropriations still loom regardless of who holds the gavel. As Hanscom wrote in Transport Topics after the midterms: "That work cannot slow down simply because an election took place." Whether the theft, emissions and workforce bills ride along before the session expires on Dec. 11 will depend on party discipline holding for exactly five working weeks.