Ocean carrier Matson has announced a partnership with BNSF Railway to introduce a cargo security program that will add new layers of protection to most of its international intermodal cargo moving through the U.S., without anyone additional direct charges to customers.
According to a release from Matson, the company will attach security devices made by cargo security firm War-Lok to every international container moving from Los Angeles to all BNSF network destinations, including Chicago, Memphis and Dallas. For an additional layer of security, BNSF has also agreed to position Matson containers in the lower wells of international intermodal rail cars for all cargo moving between Los Angeles and Chicago, and between the Chicago gateway and East Coast destinations.
"While no security system can eliminate all risk, these added measures significantly reduce exposure to theft and reinforce Matson's commitment to protecting customer cargo throughout the inland journey," said Matson chief commercial officer John Lauer.
This comes as cargo thefts have continued to steadily rise over the last year. In an analysis released in January, analytics company Verisk found that confirmed cargo theft incidents had increased by 18% year-over-year in 2025, with estimated losses surging by 60% and totaling nearly $725 million. California reported the most thefts of any state, although activity moved away from Los Angeles to historically lower-risk regions in the state, including Kern County (up 82%) and San Joaquin County (up 44%).
Cargo thieves also appeared to shift their focus away from consumer electronics toward food and beverage products, which saw a 47% increase in incidents from the previous year. Most recently, thieves stole a truck in Europe carrying 12 tons of Nestle KitKat bars.
