Siphoning rife as fuel price hits all-time high
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joanna.bourke@rbi.co.uk FUEL SIPHONING from lorries has soared as thieves look to capitalise on their customers wanting to avoid all-time high diesel costs and buy on the black market instead.
A Road Haulage Association (RHA) survey said nearly six out of 10 respondents (58.2%) had been victims of fuel theft in the past 12 months. The trade body said it undertook the survey of 151 members in response to a sharp increase in the number of fuel thefts reported.
Chrys Rampley, RHA security and infrastructure manager, says: “Fuel thefts in the road haulage industry have always been a big issue, but the spike in diesel costs will make operators’ margins suffer even more than usual.” In addition she says offenders often stole diesel for personal consumption, but it is now understood that with bulk diesel at 112.7ppl, thieves have been prompted to start selling larger quantities of fuel on the black market.
The RHA survey has revealed there has been a hike in the number of thefts in the region of 1,000-1,500litres, compared to the average 100-600litres that is normally targeted.
Over half of the affected respondents (56.9%) claimed diesel had been siphoned from lorry tanks, while the remainder occurred at storage tanks on haulage compounds.
Lay-bys at night and in the late afternoon are most vulnerable to diesel thefts, but CCTV-monitored depots have also been prone to attacks.
David McMurray, MD of Accrington, Lancs-based McMurrays Haulage, says: “I can conirm we have been targeted a handful of times so far in 2011. It has been a problem for the industry for a long time, but fuel is becoming like liquid gold, so I’m not surprised to hear the number of incidents has risen again.” He says his business has invested in itting its leet with antisiphoning products, however not all operators are convinced such equipment will deter robbers.
The RHA says some irms found anti-theft security to be counterproductive because thieves went well-equipped and tore the fuel cap off the tank, meaning the whole tank needed replacing.
Head of TruckPol DC Sue Coutts says the crime ighting unit has reintroduced the reporting of fuel funding under 1,000 litres.
It had removed this service in July 2009, but Coutts says an alarming rise in incidents has
prompted TruckPol to start again. However, as revealed by CM, TruckPol faces an uncertain future after the Home Ofice said from 1 April it will no longer fund the crime-ighting body (CM 17 March).
● The Budget took place yesterday (23 March) before CM went to press. Hopes were high among fuel duty campaigners that the proposed April duty rise would be frozen or scrapped. See Roadtransport.com for details and CM next week for all the reaction.