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Under-mining theft
Page 28
Page 29
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Amid rising fuel costs, the last thing an operator wants is to have a vehicle's fuel stolen. Anti-siphon devices have not always had the best reputation, but Russell Fowler, managing director of TruckProtect, believes his product can convince people that such devices should be fitted to all trucks.
Fowler started his working life as a geochemist working in diamond mines, among other things. "My past is diamonds, drugs and tobacco. I must mention now that the drugs side was in fact with Glaxo and the tobacco side with RJ Reynolds." This reporter looking slightly baffled as to what a geochemist is, he says: "It's someone who would look at the chemical reactions inside a volcano for instance [not to be taken literally]," Fowler explains how his firm began: "Two years ago I was in a diamond mine in Botswana; one of the employees told me the locals weren't stealing diamonds. but fuel from the vehicles transporting them. Fuel theft, wheel theft and trailer theft are big problems out there. I heard that one mine in Zambia is losing 1,000 litres a day"
Moved to act This trend astonished Fowler and prompted him to do something about it. "I spoke to my brother about this he is the technicallyminded one and we had some good ideas. Six months later,after various attempts,we had the right product."
He says they were not impressed by the anti-siphon device market. "We saw that other products on the market were universally rubbish and realised that we had to overcome this stigma. We did our research [in the UK market] and made the first year all about developing the brand," he says.
This development was not done alone: "We realised the challenges we had. We spoke to operators, truck manufacturers and Vosa, and asked them what it was they didn't want.
They all answered no drilling. no riveting and no glucing.
So this is what they did. Fowler delves straight into the technicalities of the product. -Our product twists on. It is first tightened by hand, and then by four grub screws.These grub screws are then covered by the 'secure-ring'," he explains.
Once the secure-ring is firmly wedged in place over the grub screws it can be taken off only by being chiselled away. "The anti-siphon device can be switched between vehicles, but the other reason it has to be able to come off is for such occasions as customs inspections [checking for red diesel for examplcj,Fowler says.
Secure-rings are not easy to come by either. "We are very careful with sending them out," he adds, -Companies will have to specially order them that way they know if one is missing, the device has been tampered with [or purposely taken off]."
Three obstacles
He sums up why the fuel will be quite hard to obtain: "To get to the fuel there are essentially three obstacles to overcome: the secure-ring; the four grub screws; and then the thread on the device itself."
Corrosion is not an issue. "The product is made from 2007 grade aluminium, so there is no need for after-treatment. The diesel actually offers a slight protection," he says.
When questioned about the option of bypassing the anti-siphon device by putting a hole in the bottom of the tank, Fowler replies: "There are all sorts of wonderful scare stories. That [people damaging tanks to get to the fuel] is not reality people go for the easy option.
"For example, do you leave your door unlocked at night so the burglars don't damage the door?"
The proof is in the numbers. "We've sold 20,000 of these in 18 months," he says. "The range fits every truck -we also cater for plastic tanks. Around two thirds of our sales are the 80mm version, and sales of the low-profile version are increasing."
Fowler cites another reason why he thinks his device is better than the competition: -The depth of the device is vet), important. If it's very deep the top 50 litres of the tank could still be siphoned. Ours is not too long." He continues:"We know that other products have health and safety problems, such as splashback. Ours has no splash-back you can insert the fuel nozzle, click it on and then leave it."
The company does not have its own manufacturing facility. "Our strategy is to outsource everything. We want the company to be quick and nimble and be able to spread out across the world as quickly as possible.says Fowler. Though the manufacturing is outsourced, Fowler makes sure there is an emphasis on quality control."Every 10th one is checkedwe do a ring test and cap test."
TruckProtect already has some high-profile customers. "One company that has all of its trucks fitted with our anti-siphon devices is Argos," he says. "We also have an agreement with Daf to sell our products at its 130 outlets across the UK."
Fowler is very positive about the future: "I reckon within three to four years these things will be a standard feature on all trucks. We're way over expectations. In the last six months we have also got MAN and Isuzu on board. Bit by bit we are grabbing lots of dealerships."
The company's products are not just sold in the UK though. "Over the last three months we've sold our products everywhere, from Mauritius [any chance of a product test out there? Ed] to Dubai. The majority of these guys have come directly to us.
"We are receiving a lot of interest from Europe; one of our agents is in Germany. We will launch across Europe with one of the major truck manufacturers, though I can't disclose which one at the moment."
Promising future
While Fowler's long-term outlook is positive, so is his short-term: "Over the next 12 months we expect to sell another 30,000 anti-siphon devices."
Fowler is also keen to highlight the company's other safety product: locking wheelnuts. "Wheel theft doesn't happen a lot, but wheels do get stolen, and a big loss can be made," he says. "We've designed something low-tech yet effective. It can be tightened just as much as all the other wheelnuts." •