SAFE KEEPING
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An enormous range of anti-theft devices is available to deter thieves and protect your livelihood. We have examined and assessed a selection of them.
• Last year's cost to the transport industry of more than 750,000 vehicles stolen, vandalised or broken into is estimated at around £250 million.
The final cost is likely to be much higher because the loss of a vehicle means loss of time with police reports, insurance claims, replacement hire and damage repairs — not to mention the effect on clients' confidence. Despite this gloomy situation, an enormous range of anti-theft devices is available which will deter the opportunist thief and protect your livelihood.
These can cost anywhere from 250 to £250 per vehicle and vary in sophistication. They are available and can be fitted now. Our technical team invited manufacturers to show their wares and at the same time we sought critical views from the AA's security adviser and research engineer, Peter Evans.
Makers of vehicle security equipment guard their designs carefully, as much to baffle the competition as to confuse and defeat the thief. Nonetheless they work doggedly to produce systems that will efficiently protect the truck and its load.
Evans reckons that the thiefproof vehicle security system is an impossibility, because one element which can never be designed around is the human factor.
SECURITY SYSTEMS
Security systems fall into two categories: the active and the passive. The active needs a separate action by the driver to arm the system, while the passive arms itself automatically.
The problem with an active systems is getting the driver to turn the device on every time the vehicle is left: this usually involves turning a second key in an obscure corner of the cab.
The passive type of alarm is best for load protection but can make vehicle servicing difficult and a master key to by-pass the system is a chink in the armour.
Like the vehicles to which they are fitted, alarm systems have to be regularly serviced.
Installation and operation are the two areas where security is most likely to fall down on any system, and trustworthy service staff are more use than the most sophisticated set-up.
While no alarm is totally thief-proof, an appropriate device can certainy deter all but the most determined thief.
AIC UK
• AIC does not produce security devices. It is an agent for fuel flow meters. Anyone who has driven a demonstration Volvo, Renault, Dodge, lveco Ford, Scania, or Mercedes-Benz recently will be familiar with the dashboard readout for the Swiss-built AIC 2002 flow meter.
The device gives the driver an indication of driving speed, distance covered, the time and, most importantly, the average and cumulative fuel consumption since the last reset. With careful driver training the meter can help to achieve savings in fuel consumption. It can also help to prevent fuel thefts.
By reading the fuel consumption and the distance travelled, the operator can measure the residue of fuel to check that the figures match and that no fuel has been pilfered.
The latest developments to come from Switzerland are the Tacorder and the sophisticated black box, in use with the Swiss military.
The Tacorder is an addition to the AIC 2002 and records the data from the tachograph and the flow meter on a cassette which can be down loaded into the office computer. The black box is fitted in addition to the Tacorder and AIC 2002 and records the last 300 metres of a vehicle's journey for later analysis in case of accident. Price for the AIC 2002 unit is £715.89 plus VAT, and AIC is the sole UK agent.
D4 ED RO H5 AIC UK, Transport Place, Birdingbury, Warwickshire, phone (0926) 632438
BLAIR
• A heavy-duty steering lock made by Blair Security Products is designed specifically to protect commercial vehicles or plant.
It is made of high-grade steel, secures the steering wheel at the press of a button and cannot be removed without a special key.
Blair also produces a king-pin lock for semi-trailers and they can be released with a common key if required.
D4 E0 R5 H2 Blair Security Products, PO Box 4, Bell Lane, Walsall WS3 2JR, West Midlands, phone (0922) 495508.
COTAG
• One of the companies concerned with identification is Cotag International.
It uses a low-frequency coded tag attached to the front of a truck or van which signals to a buried loop aerial to raise a barrier. The device can integrate with a fuel station, weighbridge depot entry or storage system. Cotag devices are marketed world-wide.
ED R2 H3 Cotag International, Mercers Row, Cambridge CBS 8EX, phone (0223) 321535.
The coded tag fixed on the bumper can be identified by the loop at speeds of up to 25km1h.