The short answer
Loaded equipment remains part of the supply chain while it is parked. The FBI identifies truck stops, parking lots, roadside parking, drop lots and rail yards among the places where straight cargo theft can occur when freight is unattended.
That does not mean every parking lot is unsafe. It does not mean a particular facility can eliminate theft. It means where a loaded truck spends the night is a legitimate part of freight-risk planning.
THE RISK CONTEXT
Cargo theft is a supply-chain problem, not a parking-only problem.
The FBI addresses cargo theft within its work on transnational organized crime and describes four forms: straight cargo theft, strategic cargo theft, cyber cargo theft and pilferage.
Straight theft involves physically taking cargo from its current location and can occur at truck stops, parking lots, roadside parking, drop lots, rail yards and other unattended settings. Strategic theft uses deception. Cyber cargo theft uses attacks such as phishing or account compromise to help steal or redirect a shipment. Pilferage takes part of a load, often with altered documentation.
Overnight parking is relevant to the physical environment around stopped equipment. It is only one piece of a much wider problem.
The current scale is serious.
CargoNet's 2025 year-end analysis recorded 3,594 supply-chain crime events across the United States and Canada. It estimated losses at nearly $725 million, 60% more than in 2024, while incidents involving confirmed cargo theft rose 18%.
U.S. and Canada, 2025 estimate reported by CargoNet.
Those figures cover multiple forms and locations of supply-chain crime. They do not show that all theft happened during parking, or that parking caused every loss.
Not all cargo theft is the same.
Physical theft can involve taking a tractor, trailer or cargo from a location. Other schemes can begin before a truck reaches any parking area: fraudulent carriers, identity theft, fictitious pickups, account takeovers, double-brokering scams, phishing, deceptive rerouting and cyber-enabled diversion.
Parking does not solve fraud. Cybersecurity does not create a parking space.
Both can belong in a layered plan, but neither is a total solution.
What parking can influence, and what it cannot solve alone
| Risk area | What parking can influence | What parking cannot solve by itself |
|---|---|---|
| Physical location | Where tractor, trailer and cargo spend off-duty time | Fraud before the truck arrives |
| Site environment | Visibility, activity and management | Identity theft or fraudulent credentials |
| Parking planning | A designated stop option | All cargo risks |
| Equipment exposure | The environment surrounding stationary equipment | A guarantee that cargo will never be stolen |
| Driver movement | Access to facilities | Elimination of personal risk |
| Longer dwell periods | Practical support for extended off-duty time | Control of customer, shipper or broker cybersecurity |
Parked freight is still freight moving in commerce.
For federal cargo-theft reporting, the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System guidance treats cargo as moving in commerce from origin through final destination, including during a temporary stop while it waits for transshipment or otherwise.
The truck may be stationary. The shipment is still inside its commercial journey and chain of custody.
Parking environments belong in the plan.
The FBI names truck stops, parking lots, roadside parking, drop lots, rail yards and other unattended settings when it explains straight cargo theft. That does not make every one of those places dangerous.
It does show why an overnight stop should be an intentional part of the route plan, not an afterthought made only when the clock or parking supply runs out.
“Secure” is not a synonym for “nothing can happen here.”
TT Club's discussion of secure parking reflects an industry conversation that can include controlled access, perimeter treatments, surveillance, lighting and site procedures.
These are risk-management concepts, not confirmed features of a future ALL SET location. ALL SET has not confirmed specific future security controls.
Parking environments can be planned with security in mind. No facility should promise zero risk.
Driver needs and freight needs are connected, but they are not identical.
A driver may be evaluating a place to rest, use a restroom, eat, move and prepare for the next shift. A fleet or shipper may also be thinking about the tractor, trailer, cargo, paperwork, communications and shipment instructions.
One should not be used to erase the other. A freight-security policy that ignores a driver's practical needs can become unusable. A driver-focused stop does not, by itself, solve cargo theft.
FROM THE CAB
The driver still has to make the final parking decision.
That decision can require balancing Hours of Service, traffic, the route, delivery timing, available parking, customer instructions, equipment needs and the visible conditions at an actual location.
Policy only works when a realistic option exists.
A perfect parking policy does not create a parking space.
Shippers and receivers shape the overnight context too.
They can ask whether an appointment or staging plan is likely to create overnight dwell, whether a commodity is theft-attractive or high-value, whether delivery instructions are realistic under Hours of Service, and whether carrier security procedures are understood.
Shippers may set legitimate shipment requirements. The carrier still manages the operation and the driver still faces the conditions on the road.
Cargo security is shared through the supply chain even when operational responsibility rests with the carrier.
Questions to include in an overnight freight-parking plan
- Is an overnight stop likely?
- Is the commodity theft-attractive or high-value?
- What parking or security requirements has the customer communicated?
- Is the route realistic under the driver's Hours of Service?
- What is the driver's intended stop?
- What is the backup if that location is full or unreachable?
- Which locations repeatedly create parking difficulty?
- How long is the likely dwell period?
- What is the escalation path when the plan changes?
- Are dispatch, driver and customer instructions consistent?
This checklist does not eliminate risk. It makes parking part of the trip plan.
A secure-parking requirement is useless if there is nowhere realistic to park.
TT Club's guidance on parking instructions emphasizes the need to balance security instructions with practical route planning.
A preferred stop may be full. It may be too far away. The driver may not be able to reach it legally. A customer delay may change the timing. The plan may have no backup.
Physical parking capacity therefore belongs in the risk conversation. Instructions cannot substitute for an available space.
Hours of Service still set the operating boundary.
Shipment instructions and parking preferences have to fit the driver's legal driving and off-duty limits. A plan that assumes the driver can continue indefinitely to a preferred location is not a workable plan.
Physical and digital risks can exist in the same shipment.
Identity theft, fictitious pickups, account takeovers, fraudulent carriers, double brokering, phishing, compromised documents and deceptive rerouting may occur without any criminal entering a parking lot.
In June 2026, FBI Philadelphia warned the transportation and logistics industry about rising cargo-theft threats and increasingly sophisticated cyber-enabled tactics. The warning cited nearly $725 million in 2025 estimated losses across the United States and Canada and an 18% increase in confirmed cargo-theft incidents.
Physical parking is not a cure for digital risk. Digital controls do not solve a shortage of places to stop.
Why parking still matters.
The complexity of cargo crime does not make parking irrelevant.
It makes the boundaries clearer: where loaded equipment spends an off-duty period is one physical condition worth managing.
That conclusion is different from saying parking solves cargo theft.
ALL SET'S ROLE
The trip does not stop mattering when the truck stops moving.
ALL SET begins with the driver. The truck carries more than the driver's immediate needs: it may also carry equipment, cargo, customer commitments and the next day's operating plan.
ALL SET's role is to work toward useful physical parking where drivers and fleets say it is needed. Any future security specifics should be communicated only when they are confirmed, not presented before confirmation.
Corpus Christi is the first truck park.
Corpus Christi sits within a significant freight network, and it is ALL SET Truck Park's first truck park. ALL SET is collecting demand information while planning continues.
No specific future security controls are being represented here.
FOR FLEETS
Map where parking becomes a recurring weak point.
Fleet input can identify the corridor, customer, time of day, preferred stop, backup option, frequency, commodity sensitivity and driver feedback around a recurring parking problem.
That turns “parking is difficult” into usable demand information.
FAQs
Why does overnight truck parking matter to cargo security?
Loaded tractors and trailers remain part of the freight journey while they are parked. The FBI identifies truck stops, parking lots, roadside parking, drop lots and other unattended freight situations among locations where straight cargo theft can occur, so the parking environment is one legitimate part of shipment-risk planning.
Does parking at a "secure" truck facility guarantee cargo will not be stolen?
No. No parking facility or security control can guarantee that cargo theft will never occur. Parking environments can be planned with risk-management considerations in mind, but cargo theft also includes fraud, identity theft, cyber-enabled diversion and other threats that physical parking cannot solve.
What types of cargo theft affect trucking?
The FBI describes straight cargo theft, strategic cargo theft, cyber cargo theft and pilferage. Straight theft involves physically taking cargo, while strategic and cyber-enabled schemes may involve fraudulent carriers, fictitious pickups, account takeovers, phishing or deceptive rerouting.
Should shippers tell drivers exactly where they must park?
Shippers may have legitimate cargo-security requirements, but parking instructions still have to fit real operating conditions, available parking and the driver's legal Hours of Service. Fleet and driver planning should account for both shipment requirements and realistic parking options.
Can better truck parking eliminate cargo theft?
No. Better parking capacity may improve the number and quality of physical stopping options available to drivers, but it cannot eliminate every physical, strategic or cyber cargo-theft risk.
How can fleets tell ALL SET where overnight parking is needed?
Use ALL SET's parking-interest form to share fleet size, operating regions, recurring lanes, parking frequency and markets where drivers repeatedly need overnight truck parking. Submitting parking interest does not create a reservation or guarantee future availability.
MAP THE PARKING NEED
Where does loaded equipment repeatedly need a better place to stop?
Share the markets, lanes and operating patterns where overnight parking becomes a recurring problem.
Submitting parking interest does not create a reservation, guarantee future availability or represent a confirmed facility feature.