increase. As truckstops charge up to El 0 for parking
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overnight should they take more responsibility for security? Pat Hagan investigates.
One night earlier this year, as the drivers of a large convoy of trucks owned by a Northumberland haulage firm slept soundly in their cabs at one of their favourite truckstops, a gang of skilled and stealthy criminals went silently about their work.
By the morning, Ferguson Transport, of Blyth, had 17 damaged vehicles and a repair bill running into hundreds of pounds after the gang had slashed their way through all its curtainsided units in a search for goods to steal and sell on the black market. All they found was paper.
According to angry hauliers, the attack on Ferguson Transport's fleet is not an exception—it's the rule. Night after night, they say, lorries up and down the country are broken into and goods stolen while parked on supposedly secure truckstop premises and paying for the privilege.
With strong anecdotal evidence that the rate of such incidents is increasing, pressure is mounting on truckstop owners to step up security measures or risk losing business.
Such is the strength of feeling in the
industry that the Road Haulage Association—
in response to com plaints from members —is about to bring out its first guide to security at UK truckstops. The guide, which has taken months to compile, is intended to tell hauliers what measures, if any, are in place and will "name and shame" those truckstops which make little or no attempt to protect their customers' vehicles.
"It's something our members have said is of great concern to them," says RHA spokesman Dan Hodges. "The potential commercial losses are great."
Curtainsidecl vehicles are the main target. All a crook needs to be successful is a Stanley knife and a van in which to stash the goods and make a getaway.
In the case of Ferguson Transport, its paper cargoes are rarely stolen. But according to operations manager Alan Thornton, it costs the company up to 25,000 a year in damaged curtains, although it has its own in-house repair haulier back £800. "Although we had 17 vehicles damaged in one night at the same truckstop, we still have to use it because it is the most convenient," Thornton says. Charges at truckstops vary from as little as 24.50 a night up to 210. Facilities usually include restaurants, showers and parking but some of the bigger sites also provide entertainment and even laundry facilities. Many offer drivers the incentive of a meal voucher if they use the services.
But some hauliers believe that, for these rates, truckstops should also be able to provide a decent level of security. Alan Brunt, managing director of AJ Brunt, based in Frome, Somerset, claims Granada Motorway Services is one of the worst culprits. It charges .210 a night but offers drivers a 26 meal voucher.
"They say there is secure parking but there's no security. Anybody can drive into the area and do whatever they like. I would willingly pay 2.10 if my vehicles were being watched over but often it's no better than a public car park," says Brunt. "I had a new trailer worth 220,000 and within a week the curtains had been slashed. They always slash just behind the back doors and if they cannot find anything they do the middle and then the front." In one case, Brunt says, crooks stole goods that were easily disposable in more ways than one—two pallets of nappies. "The driver never heard a thing," he says. However, Granada insists it is taking steps to tighten security. From 1 October, a private company called Controlled Parking will take over the management of all Granada's 37 service areas. Uniformed attendants will patrol lorry parks—collect • .1 r.