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13th April 2000, Page 36
13th April 2000
Page 36
Page 37
Page 36, 13th April 2000 — STAN
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IVII ention the r8th-century highwayman Dick Turpin and most people will think of swashbuckling adventure. But for Mt century hauliers his legacy of violent theft remains—and there's nothing romantic about it The latest figures show that the threat of hijacking is increasing. And although the number of incidents is relatively low, the value of the goods stolen is disproportionately high. What's more, the hijackers are likely to have done their homework and will know exactly what's inside a vehicle before they attack it.

Every day in the UK, truckloads of designer clothing, household goods and alcoholic drinks run up and down the country. These cargoes are not mentioned at random: they were the top three loads in 1998. But times have changed, and computers and electrical goods are catching up. In any case, alcohol is a smaller target these days because the penalty for smuggling it is somewhat less than the penalty for stealing it from a truck. It is fair to say that the people who think hijacking represents a good risk are professional thieves; an opportunistic hold-up is extremely unlikely. The fact that we know this, rather than assume it, is down to the work of Elaine Hardy. She is research director of the European Vehicle Research Programme, which collates and analyses data from European police forces.

Hardy found that, of the 1,230 thefts of trucks or their loads in the UK between January and September 1999, hijackings accounted for 25. It sounds a small number but there is evidence that the perpetrators knew what they were looking for. The average value of all stolen loads was £46,000; in hijacks that average rose to £148,124. Of the estimated £39 .8m total value of goods stolen, nearly ro% came from hijacks—even though this crime accounted for less than 3% of all incidents. So theft from trucks represents a much lower return for the thieves.

Following 13 of the hijacks last year, the companies concerned declared the loads their trucks were carrying. Of these, six consisted of compu uipment or mob I e phones. Of the 25 hijacks 1 rst nine onths of I

year, two were attempte , an Completed, and in one case the drive confessed to the crime. In two cases, incl ing the one involving the driver, the goods re recovered.

Vigilance

So much for the figures. If ything they should persuade you of the nee for vigilance. As Simon Chapman, economis at the Freight Transport Association, says: 'If someone waves you down, you tend to getout of the cab and say: `what's going on, guy?'' PC lain McKinnon, who heJds the police nationwide Stolen Lorry Load Desk, agrees that the number of hijacks is increasing. "But I don't want to start sending an alarmist message," he says, pointing out that operators and drivers can protect themselves by not giving the hijackers a chance in the first place.

Terry Downes, managing director of FreightWatch International, is chillingly clear: "Ninety per cent of vehicle hijacks are done by professional criminals. On a daily basis these people are targeting a particular product, a particular customer, a particular country." He says they are also spending their time doing reconnaissance work—in effect, business plans for hijacks.

FreightWatch provides security services, such as risk assessment and tailing of loads on the move in unmarked cars with tracking equipment. "The security industry has failed miserably in servicing the transporters of high-value, at-risk products," Downes insists. FreightWatch aims to interact with the customer and the carrier. "Ninety-eight per cent of all drivers genuinely want to do the job properly." he says. "And its not rocket science—'please guys, lock the passenger door'. You need to explain to them how important it is."

A security expert from one of the world's biggest computer manufacturers is candid about the problem of hijacking. We manufacture to order," he says. "This means we put a lot of pressure on logistics companies to send us trucks—we need Bp this week, 50 next week," Agency drivers are the inevitable

result of this, and the police know that criminals are infiltrating agencies (CM 23-29 March). If the computer manufacturer's truck has a load worth £500,000, replacing it will probably cost double that. And the just-intime system means no stocks are held, which in turn means that a customer might cancel an order on being told he must wait a further fortnight because a load has been hijacked. It will surprise many to find out that high-tech companies often do not insure their loads for anywhere near the full value. Although they might get a nominal

financial recompense based on weight, this could be for as little as f50 for a couple of thousand pounds' worth of laptops.

The security expert says the public perception about the risk to high-tech producers might be somewhat different: "People think, 'it happens, they're big companies with deep pockets, they can take the loss'."

Technology

But gloomy though things appear, surely advances in technology such as satellite tracking have an important part to play? "The problem is the response," he says. 'Who do T call if a truck goes missing in Belgium? The Belgian police in some little town near Ghent don't care—more than that, they don't know what you're talking about."

And ultimately, although violent crime affects relatively few people, its effect is pervasive. As the security expert says: "The logistics industry would look upon it like this: we ship a high-value product so it's our problem. But it's more than that."

Despite these technological advances, security services and dedicated police divisions, perhaps one of the best ways to beat these latter-day Dick Turpins is a method that is older than the highwayman himself vigilance. In short, driver beware.

FreightWatch: oo 353 1403 8700.


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