SAN ANTONIO — Fighting back against rampant fraud in the freight transportation industry remains a top priority for the Transportation Intermediaries Association as leaders in the freight brokerage business also work to strengthen relations with carriers.

TIA’s new president, Chris Burroughs, highlighted those and other critical issues for third-party logistics providers April 10 at the association’s 2025 Capital Ideas Conference.

“Strategic cargo theft, often referred to as freight fraud, is an issue that has reached crisis levels,” Burroughs said.

While theft and fraud are not new, the situation has “exploded into a massive fraud pandemic,” he added.

TIA’s ongoing efforts to mitigate this problem include mobilizing its fraud task force, developing best practices, educating stakeholders, raising awareness through a national media campaign and partnering with other industry organizations.

The association also is advocating for legislation and enforcement at the federal level to address freight fraud.

Congress is currently working on the next transportation reauthorization bill, which will be the vehicle to move legislation related to fraud and other key industry issues, Burroughs said.

Burroughs took the helm at TIA late last year after his predecessor, Anne Reinke, departed to become president of the Intermodal Association of North America. He was previously TIA’s vice president of government affairs.

The conference’s keynote speaker, fraud expert and former con artist Frank Abagnale, continued the conversation about fraud prevention.

Abagnale, the subject of the film, “Catch Me If You Can,” committed various forms of fraud in his youth and served time in prison before becoming an adviser to financial institutions, corporations and government agencies.

Prevention is the best strategy for businesses to protect themselves from fraud, he said, because even if scammers are arrested and convicted, it’s highly unlikely that victims will recover lost funds.

“Once you lose your money, you will probably never get your money back,” Abagnale said.

Citing a government study, he said $110 billion in court ordered restitution remains outstanding, and 91% of that money will never be collected.

Meanwhile, generative artificial intelligence is making it much easier for criminals to create false documents and identities.

“Today all of this is done in a matter of minutes with AI,” he said.

Cybersecurity breaches typically occur when someone in a company makes a mistake or fails to follow proper protocol, which then allows hackers to gain access, Abagnale said.

“Hackers do not cause breaches. People do,” he said. “Hackers just look for opportunities.”

In addition to combating fraud, TIA also continues to advocate for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to establish a reliable motor carrier safety selection standard.

“For years, brokers have been unfairly targeted for negligent selection lawsuits, all while FMCSA leaves 92% of motor carriers unrated,” Burroughs said.

At the same time, the association is defending against FMCSA’s proposed expansion of broker transparency regulation rooted in the 1980s.

Instead of regulation that exposes sensitive business data and intrudes on private contract negotiations, brokers and carriers should focus on building trust, enhancing efficiency and strengthening their partnerships, Burroughs said.

“TIA is a pro-carrier organization,” he said. “We must dismantle these false narratives that brokers and carriers are at odds. The reality is we share many common challenges. We achieve far more together than we do apart.”

TIA’s incoming chairman, Rob Kemp, emphasized the value of industry advocacy on Capitol Hill and encouraged members to participate in the association’s outreach efforts.

“I always have believed that having a voice in Washington is important,” said Kemp, who is CEO of DRT Transportation.

Another frequent topic of conversation among attendees was the Trump administration’s rapidly shifting policies on tariffs and their potential effect on freight patterns.

Lynn Gravley, TIA’s incoming vice chairman and CEO of NT Logistics, compared the uncertainty surrounding the tariffs to the supply chain disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of this decade.

“One thing that we learned from the pandemic was it created a tremendous amount of opportunities for our industry, whether you were a carrier or a 3PL. I think today’s no different,” he said.