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192 
SHOULDN'T TRUCK SECURITY BEGIN WITH MANUFACTURING
Page 10
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Truck theft this year will cost insurers £500m. Or, to put it another way, it will cost everyone who pays insurance premiums £500m this year. And beyond that our drivers and their families pay the price of truck crime with the sleepless nights and stress which comes from weekly reports of hijackings and attacks. Our goods cost more, our police are stretched more thinly.
So we assumed that given this huge cost and the pressing needs for solutions that everyone in our industry took it seriously; that every manufacturer tried to make a theftproof truck just as every haulier secured his yard. But the invaluable study by Thatcham research centre into truck security makes for depressing reading. How can respected firms such as Scania be receiving just one out of 10 for security? Across its entire range? Immobilisers will befitted, it says: not a moment too soon, and possibly far too late for anyone who has lost one. Oaf models get two, three, four stars... Can we say it clearer? Security begins with manufacturing. Get to it, for all our sakes.
And here's another little puzzle, brought to our attention by Digby Jones, chief executive of the CBI, and Val Smith, chairman of the RHA. Quite sensibly it would seem the French government has been giving its operators relief from the VED on fuel in the way of a rebate. So the RHA has called for the UK government to do the same, only to be told that the idea's a non-starter because under EU law it would be deemed anti-competitive.
So here we have a classic case of a vertical playing field, and until the legislators get their house in order in Brussels and/or the French start taking any/some notice of the laws emanating from the aforementioned Belgian city UK road transport can look forward to more of the same.
• This week sees the second of our Mystery Shopper articles, looking this time at the best deals on offer from the insurance companies. The first mystery shopper, you may remember, looked at 7.5-tonners and we must send a word of explanation to Mitsubishi and lsuzu for their omission from the rankings; sadly the Mercedes dealer failed to make us aware of its 'other' brand and the Volvo dealer never mentioned it was also offering lsuzus at, no doubt, very competitive rates.