Transit operators demand protection
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by Karen Miles and David Harris • Ford could be threatened with legal compensation claims by fleet owners of Transits who say the van is too vulnerable to thieves.
This opens up the possibility of truck operators threatAft ening legal action against Above left: Thieves drilled out the lock to steal this Transit. manufacturers in order to Above right: Ford may fit Transits with engine immobilisers. improve vehicle security. Vit The Construction Industry Theft Scheme (CITS), whose 97 members operate 50,000 Transits, want Ford to make the vans harder to break into.
CITS chairman John Clarke is managing director of ALHCO, the pipeline contractor. "Our members are having to spend thousands of pounds to make Transits secure," he says, "and we now have legal advice that we may be able to claim compensation because this could mean the vans are not fit for purpose." The legal threat has serious implications for all vehicle manufacturers if the "fit for purpose" argument proves legally sustainable.
Clarke's company alone has spent £23,000 on security devices for its 158 Transits; this is the amount it would be claiming in any legal action. But before going to court, CH'S is trying to persuade Ford to bring in improved security on the Transit. Last week CITS showed Ford four different ways in which Transits could be opened by thieves. Ford says that new security measures are being launched, but the CITS claims that none of them would solve the break-in methods they showed the company. Clarke says: "We were told that it would take six years for any major design changes to come through, which seems a ridiculous length of time."
Security experts say that the number of thefts of Ford Transits is similar to other van makes: Ford is seen by many as being very security-conscious.