Operators beware
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CM reveals the latest crime figures from TruckPol, but what will happen now that the unit has closed?
Words: Hayley Pink
OPERATORS RUNNING box vans laden with vehicle parts, beware! Your vehicles are the most likely to find themselves targeted by freight criminals, according to the latest TruckPol crime statistics, the last there will be.
While a CM analysis reveals LGV thefts recorded in 2011 were almost half that of the previous year, with 1,296 stolen compared with 2,552 in 2010, it must be noted that 2010 was an aberration. The number of lorry thefts recorded that year, when the recession was at its height, was unusually high, up 59% on 2009’s 1,604 thefts. Last year thieves had a taste for Iveco and Dafs, with the two marques representing 46% of all LGVs stolen.
They were followed by Scania, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and MAN, with the box van the most targeted vehicle type, ahead of tippers and tractor units (see box, right). TruckPol says common reasons for truck theft include removal of mechanical parts and exporting the unit abroad.
LGVs are also targeted because the goods they contain, such as diesel bowsers or expensive machinery already loaded onto the trailer, are easy to move.
What was taken?
Basically, if it can be transported, it can be stolen. The figures reveal a diverse range of items stolen from lorries, from bubble bath to hazchem (see chart, right).
Excluding fuel, there were 1,187 thefts from LGVs in 2011. However, TruckPol warns the figures could be even higher than reported because it is only able to include incidents where individual police forces have provided details.
Vehicle parts were the most popular item stolen from lorries, often fuelled by the high price of metal found inside items such as catalytic converters and batteries.
Clothes and shoes were next in line, with the remaining thefts spread evenly between a variety of goods.
By far the most wide-reaching crime affecting hauliers last year was fuel theft: TruckPol figures reveal 1,605 incidents reported, accounting for nearly twothirds (64%) of all thefts from LGVs.
Barely a week goes by when CM isn’t informed about an operator’s vehicles having fuel siphoned off and, sometimes, more than once. Last month, Willenhallbased haulier RK Transport Services reported thieves had stolen 800 litres of fuel, costing the firm £1,000, in the latest in a series of fuel thefts at its site.
Fuel thieves are becoming more sophisticated in their methods, from specially adapted vans equipped with bespoke bowsers, to large-scale fraud costing suppliers thousands of pounds.
There were 4,417 freight crimes reported to TruckPol in 2011, of which load theft (including fuel) and attempted load theft accounted for the majority, at 69%. LGV thefts represented 29% of the total, with the remainder made up of robbery, deception, warehouse robberies and hijacks (see chart, left). ■