LOCK IT or LOSE IT
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Build a better mousetrap, they say, and the world will beat a path to your door. But as Knight Lock inventor Brian Haynes has discovered, coming up with a good idea can be the easy part...
Brian Haynes' interest in truck theft began one dark night in November 1992. Lying in bed in his remote house in deepest Dorset, he was woken by a strange noise: "I heard an artic coming down the road," he says. "There was no reason for it to be there except to get to the house"
The midnight callers were no holiday makers—a gang of thieves was after Haynes' new £25,000 Andover low loader trailer: "I started up the generator (Haynes' house has no mains electricity) and looked out and saw them. They'd already backed under it. When I switched on the lights it scared them away."
The mystery attic sped off into the night., leaving Haynes to reflect on a lucky escape and wondering how to foil any future raid.
At the time he was running a low loader business with an Volvo FLIO and trailer. Clearly the low loader was a target, but how to protect it? "I looked at what was on the market" he says, but I didn't want to get all dirty using a kingpin lock. So I looked at the trailer and thought what stops it moving? What's its safety device? It's air. Then I thought there's only one way to go; it's got to be some kind of standard coupling but along the lines of a rotor arm on a car—instead of locking something on you need to take something away."
Agricultural engineering
Leaning on his background in agricultural engineering Haynes visualised a device that could keep a trailer's brakes on and prevent an attic coupling up to it. "The first drawing was on the back of a tacho chart box while I was sitting in a layby on my break," he recalls.
The next step was to find a local engineering company that could produce a prototype. With the help of his wife he set about tracking down a supplier.
"We phoned a few local welding shops and said 'If I wanted somebody to do some turning who could do it?' "says Jill Haynes. "Ironically we ended up with a local guy we hadn't even heard of. He made two prototypes; one wasn't what we wanted, but the second was So we fitted it to our trailer."
It soon became clear that Haynes' device had potential beyond personal use. But having a good idea is one thing; getting it to market is another. For a start how can you stop someone stealing the idea?
"We talked to local solicitors and they said it's essential you don't discuss it with anybody, even your mates", Jill Haynes recalls. The legal experts advised applying for a patent. This was finally granted in January 1993 but Brian continued to run his low-loader business alongside the security business. Then he suffered a serious knee injury which meant he couldn't work with the rig.
The enforced layoff, coinciding with the recession, meant it was decision time for the Haynes: Whether to wait for his return to fitness and haulage, or go for broke with the Knight Lock. They chose Knight Lock. "It was a ridiculous gamble", says Jill Haynes. "Stick or bust." It meant selling the Andover ti-axle and the FL10 to generate the working capital for the venture. "It was a real wrench," says Brian, "but we got top book for the outfit; it was very low mileage."
By the end of the summer a new supplier with the necessary equipment was in place to handle the finished product, although there were still teething problems with the pins and locking lugs to overcome before it could be put on the market. The next problem was how to sell it.
Vehicle hire
By his own admission Brian Haynes dislikes selling, preferring to develop the equipment. That left Jill, who had previously worked in the vehicle hire business. "We soon found that simply talking to people about the product and sending them brochures wasn't adequate." she says. "You had to follow it up within five days. What you're really selling is insurance and until you've had a truck stolen you're not in a frame of mind to buy a security device."
Tackling the whole country from Dorset was clearly not viable, so in November '93, with no idea of what to expect, they placed an ad in the Daily Telegraph for commission agents.
"The phone went berserk," says Jill. "We had nearly 1,000 replies. In the end we had to take it off the hook." After 10 days they appointed a network of just 12 agents, since reduced to five.
Selling began in earnest at the start of this year. "Our first target was small hauliers," says Jill. "If you're a big operator losing a truck is a major problem, but if you're a small fleet losing a truck could put you out of business."
Nonetheless, Knight Lock users include major operators such as AEA Technology at Winfrith (the trading name of the UK Atomic Energy Authority) and Bewick Transport.
"One of the greatest encouragements is that wherever we've sold one we've got resales," she says. "Through all the difficult times the people who started with us have come back and supported us."
Andrew Trotter, director of Poole-based AET Transport Services says: "We had two trucks stolen before we fitted Knight Lock. It's a very good,simple system. All our 10 vehicles are fitted with it. We've had drivers forget and try and drive off with it fitted; they don't get very far! When we're leaving trailers up country the driver takes the key with him in his box. I wish the insurance companies would recognise it."
Perhaps the greatest endorsement for the product is the fact that Knight Lock is the first LGV system to pass the Police PACT equipment test.
So far some 230 have been sold, representing an income of around £43,000. Jill Haynes reckons they've spent 05,000, excluding their own labour, bringing the product to market with little or no grant aid. The company is now negotiating with Econocruise to have Knight Lock marketed through its Fleet Direct operation.
Jill Haynes describes their current position as "poor—but optimistic! Sales are ticking over at the moment."
Despite all the publicity she reckons that the risk management market has yet to take off: "It's still 12 months away. Everybody would like to do something about theft but it gets put on the back burner. About 20% of calls we get are from people who we've given quotes coming hack to say they've had a truck stolen!"
E by Brian Weatherley