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Thanksgiving and Christmas mark the two peak windows — but every major U.S. holiday weekend pushes incident counts well above the weekly baseline. July 4th analysts flag as the highest-risk summer holiday, with exposure windows extending 72+ hours.
CargoNet's 2023 annual report documents a 49% rise in cargo theft incidents — the steepest single-year escalation on record. The holiday exposure window of 72+ hours, combined with skeleton security staffing, creates near-ideal conditions for organized theft networks that have already professionalized their operations.
Federal jurisdiction rests with the FBI and DOJ for interstate commerce, but first-response burden falls on local law enforcement — which typically lacks specialized cargo crime training. This jurisdictional gap contributes to chronic underreporting and low clearance rates across the industry.