Truckwatch reaps rewards as $ Yorks thefts dive 80%
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• by Guy Sheppard Thefts of HGVs in South Yorkshire have plummeted by almost 80% following the launch of a Truckwatch network nearly two years ago.
The network issues details of stolen trucks to all its 110 members which operate 7,200 vehicles between them.
In one case earlier this month HT Storage of Doncaster recovered a trailer worth almost 220,000 after the driver from another Truckwatch company noticed that it had not moved from a motorway lay-by after more than three hours.
HT Storage owner Mike Smith says: "A theft of this magnitude affects customers and we can lose business. Sharing information through the network does work."
South Yorkshire Police say that before the launch in September 1997, HGV thefts were running at nearly 150 a year. In the first year this figure dropped to 56, and in the following six months it fell tojust 15.
David Ransom, chief executive of the charity People United Against Crime, which administers the network, says a pilot project is due to be launched this autumn which will allow drivers to receive details of stolen vehicles through the short message service on their mobile phones.
. "Drivers could know about a theft within an hour or even half an hour of it being reported to police," says a spokesman.
South Yorkshire is the only county in the north of England to operate a Truckwatch scheme. It is supported by the Freight Transport Association and the Road Haulage Association; annual membership fees range from 240-2100, depending on the size of fleet.
• Contact People United Against Crime on: 0114 275 OMNI; fax, 0114 275 NW.