Thieves hit haulage
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• Crime is costing the road haulage industry a fortune in lost freight and stolen vehicles.
Of the 577,000 thefts reported last year (many go unreported) from vehicles of all types, goods stolen in transit cost insurers i'9.6 million, while many of the 411,000 vehicles stolen in 1986 were CVs, adding millions of pounds to the overall bill.
While the crime detection rate hovers around 20% of reported losses, Chief Inspector Derek Griffiths of the Home Office Crime Prevention Centre believes that transport management cannot absolve itself from overall responsibility. Speaking at a vehicle security conference in Solihull last week, he cited companies that rely on burglar alarm systems which have a 98% false-alarm rate instead of addressing the problem in depth and investing in proper security. Questioned about a semitrailer that had to be parked overnight beside the road because of a loose spray guard, he acknowledged there was a problem in educating the "young, enthusiastic copper". He called for closer liaison between police and the transport industry to prevent this sort of thing recurring. Lorries stolen from lay-bys or outside cafes, thefts of Dregistered trucks from depots during work hours and the removal of components (23 Bedford TK gearboxes were reported stolen in the Birmingham area alone last year), simply highlight a need for more careful staff selection and broader training to create a greater awareness of security, said CI Griffiths.
"Seek help from insurance and police security specialists," he says — particularly when planning a new depot — and talk to security equipment suppliers too.
Dover shoe shuffle
0 Audacious thieves have stolen a tri-axle tractor, a 12 metre trailer and a £50,000 load of Romanian shoes from the customs area at Dover, in a raid which took full advantage of a loophole (since closed) in Dover Harbour Board's £1 million security system. The vehicle, owned by Darley Horsley of Aylesburybased Skimass, was parked in the customs area on Friday 22 May after it had been passed through customs. At 2.20am on 25 May thieves broke into the vehicle, collected the relevant documents from Townsend Thoresen, had them stamped by customs and drove it away through the port gates. Horsley says the episode might appear amusing — but he has lost his only vehicle. Dover Habour Board police have told him it is likely the thieves were after the vehicle's load, but he fears that the tractor, a Ford Transcontinental 6x4, will be broken up and sold on the black market.
The tractor is light blue and has a roof-mounted air conditioner. Horsley says the vehicle was only on its second journey after a new engine had been fitted (number 23160608). The clu ssis number is CNHCST93508.
Simon Worth of Margatebased Transleame International, which employed Skimass to bring the load into Britain, says the dark blue trailer was hired from Capital Trailer.
Dover Harbour Board police would not comment, apart from confirming that the vehicle had been stolen.