Analyzing risk factors for highway theft in Mexico

Abstract

In recent years thefts in the Mexican trucking sector have increased, causing huge losses to carriers, so a study to know the risk factors faced by the motor carriers seems pertinent. Security is a relatively recent topic in logistics and supply chain studies, mainly based on conceptual views and qualitative data on operational disruptions in the supply chain and security issues related to terrorism. This article aims to identify variables influencing the risk of trucking robbery in Mexico, providing information to facilitate security assessments of freight, and the planning of security schemes for companies. To identify these risk variables a statistical analysis of the available national information on freight thefts is done, determining a first set of variables to design a survey applied to experts in supply chain security based on the Delphi method. Results allow us to confirm the variables or suggest new ones, showing their influence on the risk. © 2013 WIT Press.