Often called the victimless crime, due to the lack of personal casualties attached to the crime beyond the frustrated business owners of the transportation industry and the helpless insurance companies forced to pay, Cargo Crime (e.g. truck hijacking) is on the rise and so are the associated costs.

As companies struggle with increasing insurance premiums and rising losses, the public remains dramatically unaware of the annual 10 to 30 billion dollar Criminal industry that is plaguing the North American business landscape. Our media’s obsession with front page victims ensures that the reporting of these incidents barely make the last page of most publications.  The reality remains that Cargo Crime is and continues to be a key driver in economic loss to all aspects of businesses ranging from clothing and electronics to more obscure items such as baby food and linens.

Although these incidents are well known and well documented by the local authorities entrusted with resolving them, the largest advantage these highly organized criminal groups have on their side is a lack of public funding and resources and unfortunately it doesn’t appear that these challenges will be resolved anytime soon.

Cargo Theft: The New Highway Robbery

Boosting trucks laden with pharmaceuticals is a low-tech, low-risk road to riches for organized criminals
By Daniel Grushkin

At twilight on June 17, 2009, Ricky Gene McNew pulled his plum-red big rig into a TravelCenters of America (TA) truck stop in Denmark, Tenn. McNew had been driving all afternoon, starting from Louisville (Ky.), and hauling $10 million in pharmaceuticals. He was bound for Memphis, to the warehouse of a medical supply wholesaler. McNew filled his tank and headed into the truck stop for a shower. When he came out, his truck was gone.

The thieves had stolen goods worth about 100 times the average taken in a bank robbery, and there wasn’t a single witness. McNew’s cell phone had been inside the truck, along with the spare key, so he had to go into the cashier to call his dispatcher. The dispatcher called the owner of the trucking company, Steadfast Transcontinent. Read more…

Facebook fans of IMAC Online Training Academy will have a chance to win one of 10 $1,000 vouchers towards online courses.  To celebrate the newest HRCI approved courses, IMAC fans will have an opportunity to win the opportunity to take an entire suite of courses related to workplace violence, nonviolent confrontation management, safe terminations, crisis communications, guidelines for crossing picket lines, strike security and preparation, truck hijacking, armed robbery response…and many other courses for HR training and security training.

Click here to enter and view the contest details.

Why keep up with your continuing education?

Dr. Paula Caligiuri discusses Advancing Your Career Skills on CNN Newsroom. Dr. Caligiuri is a professor of Human Resource Management at Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations.

HR professionals will receive accreditation towards their SHRM designation upon completion of any of IMAC’s pre-approved online courses

Ohio-based International Management Assistance Corporation (IMAC) has achieved HRCI approval for several of the courses offered at its IMAC Online Training Academy. Human resources professionals will now receive HRCI accreditation towards their Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) designation upon successful completion of any of these unique, professionally-relevant courses, available at http://www.imac-training.com.

The courses pre-approved by the HR Certification Institute (HRCI) have been designed expressly to further the careers of HR professionals, and include pragmatic subject matter developed by some of the industry’s top security professionals. Most popular of the accredited courses include an overview of workplace violence, nonviolent confrontation, high-risk terminations and work stoppage management.

Launched in early 2011, the IMAC Online Training Academy is unique in the practical and applicable nature of the training it provides. The IMAC security education team brings together respected experts who will instruct primarily on the realistic application of field-tested concepts and tactics to ensure students get relevant knowledge and techniques to equip them to succeed in the industry today. In addition to its more than twenty courses geared to HR professionals, the school also provides workplace violence training for security professionals and corporate executives.

“Our newly accredited courses for HR professionals are certain to provide a real career edge,” says Rob Shuster, vice president of protective services and training. “We are happy to have our very current and carefully-developed curriculum formally recognized by the HRCI, and look forward to imparting the latest industry knowledge, best practices, and training to as many eager learners as possible.”

In addition to the online courses, the HRCI has also pre-approved IMAC’s Labor Dispute and Work Stoppage Conference being held in Arizona from May 10 and 11, 2012. Registrants who attend both days will be awarded 7.5 HRCI credits towards their SHRM designation. For details and registration, please visit: http://www.imacservices.com/002/IMACArizona2012.php