IN BROAD DAYLIGHT
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The cost of commercial vehicle theft has doubled over the past three years. In many cases there is little the victims can do to stop it, and little chance that their property will be recovered.
• Just nine hours after haulier Russell Griffiths bought an Iveco 220-30 tractive unit, it was stolen from his yard. He paid £7,000 cash for the secondhand vehicle at 09:00hrs; it was delivered two hours later and a neighbour spotted it being driven away at 18:00hrs.
Griffiths, who owns SR Nationwide of Thatcham, Berks, says it will take at least three months for the insurance money to come through. By then, he will have lost £12,000 worth of business.
"We are a small family company employing five people," he says. "I now have a driver who is not doing anything and have lost a lot of the work I originally bought the vehicle for."
The theft, which took place at the beginning of February, demonstrates the severe financial hardship that hauliers can suffer as a result. Unfortunately, such incidents are becoming increasingly widespread.
RISING LEVELS
The Association of British Insurers (A13I) says the cost of meeting commercial vehicle theft claims in the first six months of last year has been provisionally set at £77m, equalling the figure for the whole of 1988.
Between 1988 and 1990 the number of claims rose from 115,000 to 143,000. In Essex, a recognised blackspot for such crimes, around 100 commercial vehicles are being stolen every month. Recession is clearly a factor behind the trend. Financial hardship not only makes crime more attractive but also stimulates demand for cut-price vehicles and parts with a dubious past.
Mike Billingham, national development manager for Owner Operators UK, says: "The problem has become more intense over the last couple of years. It's like everything else. Crime tends to come to the surface in difficult times."
Several initiatives have been launched to combat the problem and there are numerous security devices on the market to protect vehicles.
So far, no nationally co-ordinated offensive has been launched although the Home Office has hinted that its current blitz on car crime may be broadened to include commercial vehicles.
One of the most practical anti-theft schemes is Truckwatch, run by the Road Haulage Association, the Freight Transport Association and the police.
It involves circulating descriptions of stolen vehicles by fax to participating operators, Details are then passed on to their drivers who receive a £100 reward if they help in the recovery of a vehicle.
Graham Houghton, RHA's security controller, says that when the scheme is working effectively, hundreds of drivers can be looking out for stolen trucks at any one time.
"But the majority of vehicles are stolen overnight and the chances are that they will have gone some distance and been garaged before Truckwatch has been notified," he says.
Another drawback has been the use of "fax rings" to circulate descriptions. Although participants are expected to pass on the details to another designated operator immediately, communication often breaks down due to negligence.
Sometimes, participating companies have simply gone out of business and not informed the co-ordinators.
Truckwatch started in the Midlands in 1985 and has since been set up in Essex, Kent, Cleveland, Durham, South Yorkshire and Humberside.
In Essex, police are considering taking over the responsibility of contacting all Truckwatch members themselves to improve communication. The reward paid to drivers might be increased as well.
Sergeant Neil Seymour, force crime prevention officer, says: "We are looking at ways of overcoming the problems of the present system. Providing we get the administration right, I think Truckwatch will clamp down on the problem."
POOR RESULTS
Houghton says few positive identifications have resulted from the scheme and believes that manufacturers hold the key to effectively countering truck theft.
"We talk to manufacturers at every opportunity to encourage them to put more securitv equipment in," he says.
But the manufacturers claim that the market will simply not stand sophisticated security devices becoming standard fittings because they would add several hundred pounds to the cost of a vehicle.
Nigel Emms, external affairs manager for Iveco Ford, says; "The need for security is not great with a lot of trucks anyway because they are kept in secure compounds overnight. Immobilisers are not always the answer because the thief may just want to steal from the cab or the load."
Emms says Iveco Ford is evaluating some security devices which it may offer as optional extras in future. "Of course, all our dealers currently offer security devices in the after market," he adds.
For many hauliers, the cost of such devices is prohibitive. Sandbach-based haulier Roger Bettley has a fleet of 15 vehicles and has made £55,000 worth of insurance claims for theft over the past three years. The latest theft took place at the end of January when a Foden 6x2 tractor was taken.
His yard is securely fenced and padlocked at night and each vehicle has a steering lock. Bettley says it would cost £7,500 to install immobilisers throughout his fleet. "There's just not enough money in the job to spend that sort of money," he says. But in the Government's car theft campaign insurers are being encouraged to reduce premiums for drivers who install security devices.
Ironically the Association of British Insurers says such an approach is not applicable with commercial vehicles because premiums are usually assessed individually anyway.
"Operators pay a premium which is related to their own claims' experience," says a spokeswoman. "If you fit security devices and your claims drop, that will be reflected in your future premiums."
HIGHER STAKES
Commercial vehicle theft is different from car crime anyway because the stakes are higher and more careful planning is usually required.
In January, a Leyland Cruiser tractor unit worth £15,000 was stolen from Scunthorpe-based CP Marshall Transport. Owner Philip Marshall says: "You can tell it was done professionally because the vehicle was coupled up to a propane tanker and everything was disconnected correctly."
The company, which has 25 tractor units, uses alarms and closed-circuit television to guard its three-acre site but has suffered repeated break-ins over the past year.
"Whatever security devices you use, they will get round them somehow because they have nothing else to think about," says Marshall.
Roger Bettley believes thieves are highly selective about what they take. He has had three Fodens taken in the past 18 months but his Mercedes and ERF trucks have not been touched.
"Foden is a worldwide product. They are being broken up and shipped abroad because you can use them anywhere," he says. Trailers are attractive targets as well. One leading rental company says around a dozen of its trailers have been reported stolen over the past six months. Last month Felixstowe Dock & Railway Company banned trailers from being left unattended within its boundaries because so many were disappearing.
But the market for stolen trucks is obviously more lucrative. Leicestershire police have recently launched a publicity campaign to highlight the danger of tipper thefts in the county.
Sergeant Mick Studley says five bulk tippers have been stolen since January, each worth at least £40000. "Those responsible for this type of crime are highly organised and professional," he says. "We believe most vehicles are cut up completely and sold as spares. There must be a network set up to dispose of them."
Last month Southampton-based WTW Truck Hire had a Mercedes 1617 16-tonne tipper with a Hiab crane stolen.
Managing director Bill Whetren says: "We know an identical vehicle was stolen in Kent the previous week. It is highly specialised stuff that is being stolen." Like Studley, he believes the vehicles are being stolen for their parts. "Thieves are getting Bedford four-speed gearboxes out of lorries every day of the week. The police have got to ask who is using these components and where they are going." Whetren believes the ultimate destination of most stolen parts is abroad and says export consignments should be checked more vigorously.
PRIZE TARGET
Loaded vehicles are another prized target for thieves. TT Club, the mutual insurance group, claims incompetence and carelessness invariably create the opportunities for this kind of theft. It singles out one incident last year which involved a trailer with a £96,000 groupage cargo from Italy. This was parked overnight in a secure parking lot in east London but an unauthorised tractor unit was allowed in by the gateman. The driver then proceeded to hitch up the trailer and drive off.
TT is urging its members to check out the security arrangements of any lorry parks they use and to exercise maximum internal security: "It is too easy for thieves to obtain blank delivery/release orders," it says. Most crime prevention boils down to common sense such as leaving vehicles in a secure compound and locking them up. But, as sergeant Neil Seymour says: 'People don't do the obvious because they think it will never happen to them.
LI by Guy Sheppard If you have suffered a vehicle theft contact CM 's Crinteline — see page 24.