Middle East truck tracker is clued up
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TRUCK tracker Mr Fred Topham is a thorough man and already his investigations on his route overland to Teheran (CM last week), have revealed several abandoned and "parked" trailers and units in Yugoslavia and Turkey.
Mr Topham—ex CID man and now a director of the Essex-based Barking Investigation Services—is a specialist in vehicle rental inquiries and now BIS is recovering abandoned and stolen outfits on the long road east.
Backed by the Barking Garage Group, BIS has all the equipment and contacts needed to track down and recover the vehicles—and in its first year it has recovered 90 per cent of the rental default vehicle cases it has handled.
Said Mr Topham : "This is no nine to five business for amateurs, we keep on the trail 24 hours a day. It is by the right combination of research and application that we get our man—or rather his vehicle."
This week he reported more stolen and abandoned vehicles found during his overland trek in Belgrade, Kapicule and Istanbul.
In Belgrade a Scania, CVX 766G and two trailers, RB2 and RB3 are being stripped. They are in the car park on the left hand side of the road climbing out of Belgrade, going south.
Also in that park is a loaded trailer 8330 and a container, 720830/96 as well as a Volvo, XPL 99N with trailer 720830/ 118. Another Volvo, OYS 45M is also parked and apparently abandoned in the same place.
At Kapicule the story is grim. Trailer Y73879 is being stripped and another, OLL 63661, fleet number IH 12/314 in the name of W and M Woods has been stripped. The driver of Volvo ELU 922J and trailer 8181 has been waiting for 10 days for running money.
Volvo HNG 464N and its trailer which was abandoned two years ago has now been repaired and has been sold by the repairers.
BIS chairman Mr Dennis Bloomfield, a JP, has recently returned from Iran where he managed to sort out the problems of a rented vehicle whose driver had been convicted of drug smuggling.
Mr Bloomfield said: "The Iran trip was very rewarding; I managed to set up a number of contacts who will help us extend our effectiveness to this area. We also are now familiar with the legal procedures which need to be adopted where goods are impounded."
Owners needing information on Mr Topham's finds in the Middle East should contact Barking Investigations on 01594 0333.