Private eyes track down pallet pirates
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by Jane Sayer
• Hard-pressed hauliers are paying a private detective to spy on drivers illegally selling pallets in a racket estimated to cost the industry around „El 00m a year.
Mike Medden has been staking out the "pallet pirates" for two months: his longterm goal is to shut down the operators who buy stolen pallets. "Some 95% just aren't the drivers' to sell," he says.
Used pallets are worth between £1.75 and £4 apiece, depending on their size, condition and quantity. Medden and his eight colleagues are watching sites in nine counties nationwide, including many operated by specialist companies at service areas owned by Granada. The observers make a note of the time, date, location, vehicle make, registration number and the number of pallets, then they photograph the trucks and drivers with telephoto lenses.
Medden then contacts the haulier concerned to see if he has a pallet problem. If the haulier is interested Medden sends him a report and photographs for a fee.
According to Medden some hauliers have sacked their drivers once they have seen the evidence; others claim they actively encourage them to sell the pallets as a tax free bonus. "The pallet pirates end up reselling the pallets back to people who have lost them in the first place," says Medden. He adds that the worst area in the country is around the A1/M62 interchange, which he describes as the pallet "Bermuda Triangle".
MS Medden Associates is based in Goole, East Yorkshire; contact 0831 409221.
L.7 Chep UK, which operates 16 million pallets in the UK, is working with the Road Haulage Association to clamp down on the illegal trade in pallets.
Chep has a full-time team of eight people keeping track of its pallets and prosecutes a "good handful" of people every year. Figures suggest that out of 30 million pallets manufactured every year 50% are needed simply to cover losses. Chep says its own figures are much lower but admits: "Chep has a pool of pallets and now and then that pool can leak." 4.3PA urrs1 REQUIRED • Trevor Thomas, co-managing director of the Pallet Supply Company which is the managing agent for pallet sites at Granada services, stresses that his company has made the operation as "squeaky clean" as possible.
"We carry out spot checks an all the sites and we insist that drivers sign a form declaring that the pallets are theirs to sell," he says. "Should we find anyone contravening the agreement they will be removed from the site."