A truck arrives just before your warehouse closes for the holiday. The driver is different from the one your team expected. An email says the change is approved, and everyone wants to get the shipment out before heading home.
Who checks that approval? Who confirms the truck should receive the freight? And what happens if the person who usually handles those questions has already left?
Those decisions deserve attention well before the last shipping day. Holiday cargo theft prevention depends on clear procedures that employees can follow when schedules change and familiar contacts are unavailable.
This year, Christmas Day and New Year’s both fall on a Friday. Facilities that close through each following weekend will have two three-day closure periods a week apart. Some businesses may also shorten hours on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Confirming those schedules early helps teams account for freight that could remain in transit or sit until operations resume.
What Christmas and New Year’s Theft Patterns Tell Us
CargoNet’s December 2025 year-end holiday advisory examined five holiday periods covering December 23 through January 2. Across those periods, it recorded 353 events involving cargo theft, tractor and trailer theft, and supply chain fraud.
More than half of the events occurred December 26–30. December 23 had the highest individual daily count, with 56 events. The findings give shippers a reason to maintain security throughout the days between Christmas and New Year’s.
Plan for Two Consecutive Holiday Weekends
This year’s Friday holidays make those dates especially relevant to shipping schedules. Freight picked up before Christmas may sit until a receiver reopens. A load moving the following week could encounter another closure before reaching its destination.
The historical findings do not predict this year’s incident totals. They do show why planning should cover the entire holiday stretch, including the days when facilities reopen with reduced staff or alternate coverage.
Review Both Moving and Stationary Freight
Holiday freight security involves more than checking the warehouse before locking up. Teams also need to verify pickups, confirm changes, and account for loaded equipment during extended stops.
CargoNet’s advisory recommends trusted callback procedures, secure monitored parking, reduced dwell time, and clear driver check-in expectations. Shippers can use those recommendations to guide discussions with their logistics partners before the holiday rush.
Confirm Who Can Pick Up Your Freight
A pickup number helps identify a shipment, but your team also needs a process for checking that the arriving party is authorized to receive it.
Before holiday coverage begins, align with your logistics partner on the pickup information employees should expect and how they should handle discrepancies.
Make Verification Details Available at the Dock
Employees covering shipping need access to the scheduled carrier information, shipment references, and established contacts for resolving questions. Those details should be available without searching a vacationing employee’s inbox.
Keep instructions clear enough that someone covering a different shift can follow them.
Verify Changes Before Releasing the Load
If the arriving driver or equipment does not match the expected details, pause the release and contact the appropriate party through an established channel.
Avoid relying only on a phone number supplied in the message requesting the change. Use contact information already on file or another independently verified source. Document the confirmation so the next employee can see what was approved.
Give Delivery Changes a Clear Approval Process
Freight security continues after pickup. A shipment can leave with a legitimate carrier and still face a fraudulent attempt to redirect it.
A familiar email address or recognizable caller ID should not replace verification. CargoNet’s year-end advisory recommends confirming pickups and appointment changes through known, trusted contacts.
Confirm New Instructions With an Authorized Contact
Define who can approve changes to a delivery address, receiving contact, or other important shipment instruction. Verify the request through a known contact before passing revised instructions to the carrier.
Record who approved the change and make sure everyone responsible for the shipment receives the same information.
Keep Urgency From Replacing Verification
“We need this changed before everyone leaves” can sound reasonable on a busy afternoon. Employees should know that time pressure does not remove the approval requirement.
A short, established process helps the team handle legitimate changes promptly and gives employees support when a request needs to wait.
Know Where Loaded Freight Will Spend the Weekend
Before dispatching a shipment, confirm that the receiving facility can accept it as planned. A truck leaving Thursday may reach a destination that has already closed or cannot unload until Monday.
That can leave freight stationary longer than expected and create questions about storage, custody, and delivery instructions.
Confirm Receiving Hours Directly
Review actual operating hours for the affected shipment. A normal Friday appointment does not establish that a facility will receive freight on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.
Ask about shortened hours, appointment requirements, and the first available receiving window after reopening.
Review Stationary Freight With Your Logistics Partner
For freight expected to sit, confirm the planned location, who has custody, and who should receive notice if circumstances change. Review appropriate security arrangements with the party responsible for the site or equipment.
At your own facility, check that access controls, lighting, locks, and monitoring equipment work as intended. Establish who receives alerts and who can respond during the closure.
Make Holiday Coverage Clear Before Employees Leave
A contact list only helps if someone knows when to use it and who is responsible for responding.
Assign responsibility for shipments that remain open over the holiday. Include a backup contact when the primary person will be unavailable.
Give Covering Employees Decision Support
The employee covering the dock or monitoring shipments should know which changes they can approve and which require escalation. Share the same instructions with relevant warehouse, customer service, and logistics teams.
This reduces the chance that separate employees approve conflicting instructions without knowing what the others have done.
Review the Final Shipping Days in Advance
Complete a short security review early enough to resolve questions before closing:
- Confirm shipping and receiving hours for affected loads.
- Verify scheduled pickups and investigate unexplained changes.
- Confirm revised delivery instructions through trusted contacts.
- Identify loaded freight that will remain stationary.
- Review custody, storage locations, and security arrangements.
- Share holiday coverage contacts and approval authority.
- Assign responsibility for every shipment still in progress.
- Establish how employees should report urgent concerns.
Keep Verification Consistent When Operations Resume
The first day back can bring accumulated messages, delayed freight, and requests that arrived while employees were away.
Before acting on those instructions, reconcile outstanding shipments and verify any changes that still need approval. Confirm where freight is, what has already happened, and who owns the next step.
The same procedures used before the holiday should guide the return to normal operations. A busy inbox should not shorten the verification process.
Close for the Holidays With Clear Ownership
Consecutive Friday holidays make early coordination especially useful this year. Every shipment still moving or waiting through a closure needs a clear plan for custody, communication, and authorized changes.
Working with a 3PL gives manufacturers a partner to help coordinate pickup details, receiving schedules, and shipment updates. Sharing holiday hours and special requirements with Becker Logistics early gives everyone more time to resolve questions before facilities close.
Before your team heads home, can you account for every shipment still in progress and who is responsible for it? Contact Becker Logistics to discuss your holiday shipping needs.
