The misconception that the carrier is liable ‘in all circumstances’ is a serious mistake. As we shall see below, national and international legislation provides only for a simple presumption of liability, which is subject to significant exclusions and limits on compensation.
In the first part of this article, we provide an overview of the main risks we face when handing over our goods to the carrier, together with the most important and up-to-date statistics on theft during transport.
In the second part, we provide companies that make extensive use of copper and manufacturers of electrical transformers with some guidelines to reduce the risk of non-delivery of goods.
In the concluding section, we will outline the essential insurance policies to protect our interests in the event of loss or damage during transport, and who to contact before a major uninsured theft negatively impacts company turnover.
We have decided to discuss electrical transformers and copper together for two main reasons.
Firstly, their mutual dependence: transformers require copper to function efficiently, and copper finds one of its most common technical applications in transformers.
Secondly, the fact that criminal organisations are literally ravenous for both transformers and copper.
Both represent, as we shall see in the European statistics on road theft, a primary target for their illicit activities: copper – a highly valuable commodity recovered from transformers or as goods in transit in the form of coils – once stolen can be sold on the black market quickly and profitably.
Below, we answer some of the key questions companies have about protecting their economic interests when copper and transformers are transported by road.
What risks do we face when we hand over our goods to the carrier at our company’s loading bay?
In a nutshell, there are two types of risk, depending on where they occur.
On company premises, in the loading and unloading areas, goods may fall and become damaged. In addition, our employees may suffer serious accidents.
Once the goods are loaded onto the lorry and leave our company premises, the main risks are theft and damage during transport to the destination.
With specific reference to the risk of accidents to our employees, what else can we add?
Company directors must invest heavily in health and safety, given that the loading and unloading area is currently one of the most dangerous places in the production facility.
The stage of taking charge of the goods on the company forecourt is one of the most critical moments: the main risks for our workers include accidents during manoeuvres, crushing, falls and problems related to the manual handling of loads.
The risk of having to pay out of one’s own assets, as we have written extensively here, is very real. The subject is vast and, for reasons of space, we will devote further in-depth analysis to it.
What risks do we face if the entire lorry, with all our goods, were to suddenly disappear? Who pays for the damages?
We are dealing with a very serious case of total loss of the cargo.
In this case, the carrier, i.e. the transport company, is considered legally liable under strict liability, which applies from the moment they receive the goods until their delivery.
But beware: the carrier is liable for the loss of the goods unless they can prove that the disappearance was due to unforeseeable circumstances, force majeure, defects in the goods or packaging, or errors made by the sender or the intended recipient.
In these four cases, the carrier bears no liability, whilst it is the company with a financial interest in taking delivery of the goods intact that risks financial loss of the product, loss of profit and potential legal disputes with its suppliers due to breach of contract.
Repetita iuvant: if the carrier can demonstrate that they have taken all possible precautions (e.g. vehicle parked in a secure area, active anti-theft systems), they are entitled to the statutory limit of compensation depending on whether the transport takes place within the country or internationally.
Have there been any recent cases of road transport vehicles disappearing without trace?
There have recently been some very high-profile cases of lorries and their loads vanishing without trace, often linked to criminal organisations.
These incidents involve both the theft of the cargo and the vehicle itself, as in the case of the 12 tonnes of chocolate bars destined for the foreign market, which disappeared in Italy in April this year but were fortunately recovered along with the lorry carrying them.
A story with a happy ending, but one that highlights the risks faced not only by large companies but also by smaller ones, which are equally easy targets for criminals.
Do we have any statistics on thefts of goods in transit?
TAPA EMEA, the association that has been helping manufacturers and freight forwarders reduce the risk of theft throughout the transport supply chain since 1997, recorded a total of 157,421 crimes across 129 countries for the three-year period 2022–2024, representing a total loss to businesses of nearly €2 billion.
The losses are mainly concentrated on digital fraud and physical thefts at logistics hubs and on the road.
Among the most striking cases, in addition to the one just mentioned, we can include the theft of a trailer loaded with electronic video game accessories that took place in Germany in January 2026, worth over €1.5 million. The criminals struck during the night, uncoupling and stealing the semi-trailer loaded with goods and leaving only the tractor unit at the scene.
In Italy, it is estimated that around 6 out of 10 stolen lorries disappear permanently without ever being traced. Only 39% of stolen heavy goods vehicles are actually recovered.
In 2025, cargo thefts increased by 16% globally. In Italy, in February 2026 alone, the value of missing goods reached millions, placing the country at the top of the European rankings for this type of crime.
Organisations are using increasingly sophisticated methods, such as cyber cargo theft, where criminals impersonate legitimate carriers to digitally hijack shipments before they even leave.
Which products are most frequently targeted by criminal organisations?
In addition to foodstuffs, the main targets for total disappearance are: It is precisely the constant spikes in the value of copper on the world market and the growing demand from the renewable energy industry that make road hauls of this highly valuable material an extremely lucrative target.
- electronics and hi-tech
- pharmaceuticals and cosmetics
- premium food and drink
- Metals, particularly copper products.
While it is true that thefts can also occur within the production site (consider the several hundred million euros’ worth of materials stolen from a major German company a few years ago), the risk of ‘red gold’ disappearing during road transport must not be overlooked, even by SMEs.
Based on the most recent data (2024–2026), thefts of copper and metals during transport and from logistics infrastructure are in fact showing a sharp upward trend, fuelled by the record value of the material on the black market.
Criminals are using increasingly sophisticated tactics, such as falsifying delivery instructions or monitoring load boards to intercept copper shipments destined for the industrial and construction sectors.
Are electrical transformers a target for vehicle-borne theft?
We have just mentioned how valuable copper is, to the extent that it attracts the attention of criminal organisations.
Well, electrical transformers are also a frequent target of thefts carried out using vehicles.
Criminals target these devices precisely to extract and resell the copper and dielectric oil contained within them, materials that guarantee a high financial return on the black market
How can companies that use copper and manufacturers of electrical transformers protect themselves against theft during transport?
Even before taking out insurance policies, we strongly recommend that companies draw up a comprehensive checklist of essential measures to reduce the risk of cargo theft during road transport.
We cannot stress this enough: given the extremely high value of these products on the black market, manufacturers of electronic components and users of copper must absolutely adopt risk management tools at various levels – physical, technological and administrative.
Here are some practical tips.
First and foremost, we recommend carefully selecting your carrier.
Relying on trustworthy logistics and transport partners is an essential requirement, especially when our goods have to cross multiple countries, with the risk that the transport company itself may rely on subcontractors over whom we have no control.
Together with the transport company, we can plan stops and prohibit those in high-risk areas.
We also advise against publicising the transport of high-value goods.
Secondly, we recommend implementing tracking and monitoring measures.
High-precision tools are available that allow us to locate our goods on the road with sufficient accuracy and trigger alarms in the event of a sudden change of route.
The installation of vibration and motion sensors inside containers is a valid solution for reducing the risk of packaging being cut open or broken into.
With specific reference to copper, the use of marking fluids, such as synthetic DNA, can deter thieves, as it makes the material easily traceable and difficult to resell.
Invisible marking is often used, which involves applying codes, logos or traceable information to the metal’s surface that are not visible to the naked eye but can only be detected using specific systems.
This technique is mainly used for industrial traceability, anti-counterfeiting and production batch management without spoiling the material’s appearance.
Given the high value of red gold, we can protect the transport of copper by using security locking systems for trailer or container doors, such as high-strength padlocks, and by using security seals compliant with ISO 17712 and seal covers to prevent tampering.
With regard to the transport of electronic components, there are the TAPA guidelines, in particular the TSR (Trucking Security Requirements) certification, which sets high standards for the transport of high-value goods.
What specific insurance policies can these companies take out to protect their interests?
In road haulage, the belief that the carrier is always fully liable for stolen goods is a myth.
Business owners must bear in mind that, once we hand over the goods to the carrier, we lose control over our property.
The same applies when we are expecting delivery of undamaged goods that we have already purchased, and which suddenly disappear along with the lorry on which they were being transported.
The carrier’s liability is not, in fact, absolute or automatic: the carrier is protected by compensation limits established by law and, in some cases, may even be exempt from paying.
To answer the question, companies that make extensive use of copper and manufacturers of electrical transformers can protect their interests as owners of goods in transit through a specific insurance policy that covers full reimbursement of the value of the goods in the event of theft, regardless of whether the carrier is at fault or not.
Given that this insurance, in addition to cases of theft and loss, protects businesses from other unfortunate events such as vehicle accidents, natural disasters and handling errors, we will dedicate a further specific analysis to this below.
Another insurance policy I strongly recommend is the legal protection policy.
When a vehicle goes missing, or in the event of even partial destruction of high-value goods in transit, we can ask the insurance company to instruct its legal team to investigate whether, for example, the carrier to whom the goods were handed over was not sufficiently diligent in instructing the final carrier responsible for the goods that went missing!
In conclusion: how can we avoid unpleasant surprises and protect our goods during road transport?
In this article, we have outlined in general terms how important it is to safeguard our interests when high-value goods, such as electronic components and copper, are transported by road from our company to the end buyer, or when we have a direct interest in receiving goods that we have already paid for and which, by contract, must arrive intact at our company’s premises.
When we enter into a transport contract, it must be made absolutely clear at what point the risks associated with the goods in transit pass from the seller to the buyer: it is, in fact, absolutely vital that, prior to every shipment, the handover procedures and transfer of liability between the various parties and operators in the transport chain are very clear, so as to avoid misunderstandings and, if I may say so, some very serious headaches.
Cargo insurance and legal protection policies are certainly valid solutions; however, before a serious incident occurs, we recommend consulting expert insurance brokers to draw up not only a plan to mitigate and monitor these risks but also to verify which liability clauses we can include in the shipping contract to protect our goods in transit.