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Tackling the villains
Page 38
Page 39
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Brazilian truck thieves are so determined that armed escorts are necessary on some routes. Patric Cunnane reports on the global rise of truck crime and what one European country is doing to stop it.
Truck theft is a global problem involving highly organised criminal gangs who have developed ruses of jaw-dropping sophistication. Increasingly it is not trucks they are after but the high-value cargo they contain.
Consider this example from the Netherlands. A driver phones his office for delivery instructions. He is directed to a warehouse a few streets from the recipient's usual address. There he finds a building with the correct company name and an employee in the customer's overalls guiding his vehicle inside. However, the building is a mock warehouse and the 'employee' a member of a gang which then holds the driver prisoner and robs the truck of its cargo.
Not only was this theft daring but it carried all the hallmarks of an inside job, with the gang infiltrating the haulier's payroll.
In some countries, such as Brazil, trucks will not get insurance unless they are fitted with satellite tracking systems and the drivers are thoroughly vetted to ensure they do not have a criminal past. Such stringent precautions don't prevent determined hijackers —9,000 Brazilian trucks were stolen in the first half of this year alone.
Preventative measures
These alarming facts emerged duringTransport Tracking 2005, the fourth annual telematics conference held in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The Dutch have been so disturbed by the criminal targeting of road transport that government, police and industry have joined forces in a three-year programme to tackle such crime. Holland is one of Europe's major freight hubs so has a correspondingly vast number of vehicle movements. Oaf trucks are the most popular with thieves.
"The value of stolen cargo is about 150m euros a year," says Ton van der Lee, vehicle crime co-ordinator for the Dutch police.
The Dutch initiative brought together several government ministries including Justice, Economic Affairs, Internal Affairs and Tran sport .The Dutch Association of Transport Users, the Transport District Council and Transport en Logistiek Nederland (the Dutch hauliers' association) have been consulted.
"The government has become involved because companies told us they were suffering economic damage," said Minky Sonneveld from the Dutch Ministry of Internal Affairs "The crime is second only to the retail sector — 53% of operators have suffered some form of damage or theft."
The programme includes the introduction of safer parking throughout the country. This initiative is now being followed up in the Euro pean Parliament to tackle truck crime throughout the EU.
The Dutch are now educating drivers and operators about the risks. Broadcasts warn drivers if they are in an area where trucks are being stolen. A central list detailing all the stolen vehicles is available to operators.
Insider jobs
When cargo is targeted, around 65% of the trucks are later recovered. But the Dutch have mounting concerns about the increasing level of violence directed at drivers including the use of guns and gas. The theft of truck keys is also common — sometimes from the driver's home or from his coat in a restaurant. Burglars may break into the traffic office and nab the whole fleet's keys.
The use of insiders may prove the toughest problem to overcome. More than 50% of thefts include the participation of the drivers. Fraud is on the increase with many crimes involving either the driver, the insured or the receiver.