• A truck operator who fitted a tracking device to
Page 7
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
one of his vehicles is demanding his money back from the system's manufacturer after the vehicle's theft last week.
Paul McCarthy, director of Barkingbased PM Site Services, paid £1,000 to have a Securicor Trak-Bak system fitted to a E40,000 Volvo FL10 following the theft of one of his MercedesBenz trucks.
The system, which is Fitted to 2,600 commercial vehicles in the UK, comprises an immobiliser which, if attacked, triggers a signal From a hidden transmitter to a 211-hour monitoring centre. The owner and the police are then alerted. However, says McCarthy, thieves broke into the company's yard last Wednesday morning, broke into the vehicle, found the tracking device and discarded it before driving the truck away.
McCarthy says he believes the truck was stolen to order and could now be on the Continent.
"I would have fitted secondary alarms and fuel cut-outs if I had known someone could break into the vehicle and disarm Trak-Bak without alerting their tracking system," says McCarthy. The operator is demanding his money back, although he says it is scant consolation compared to the value of the truck.
Although McCarthy's vehicle has not been found, Securicor claims it still has a 100% record on vehicles fitted with the tracking system. A Securicor spokesman says the theft of the vehicle "is not as straightforward as it seems." The company is refusing to return McCarthy's money until it has conducted its own investigation. Paul McCarthy: "Trak-Bak and a windscreen—all that's left of my £40,000 truck."