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FTA is represented on a number of police and industry groups including JAGOLT (the Joint Action Group On Lorry Theft) and TruckWatch. This bulletin is circulated to members as part of our commitment to support the police in their work against lorry and load theft. Christmas is coming! Additional drivers, hired-in vehicles, new rosters and routes all provide theft possibilities for opportunists if companies do not stay on their guard. Drivers are reminded of the golden rule to only accept changes in their delivery or collection instructions from those they know in their own traffic offices. And traffic office staff are also frequently targeted by would-be thieves, as illustrated in some of the following news items. Recipients of this e-mail are invited to distribute it to drivers or other appropriate members of staff in their organisations when it is safe and convenient to do so. RHA Security seminar FTA is pleased to pass on to its members, details of the forthcoming RHA Security seminar being held at Towcester Racecourse, Northamptonshire on 13 November. The subject of the day will be ‘Combating Freight Crime’, chaired by John Stalker, former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police. Members can access details on the RHA website www.rha.net or telephone 01932 841515. Deception success We have received a report of a gang that successfully made off with a full trailer load of wines and spirits. The delivery premises were in Park Royal in north west London. A member of the gang convinced the driver to allow transfer of the load to a stolen trailer within sight of the security gate and “the main offender actually walked out of the security area during the distraction part!”, according to the company. Moral of the story: make sure you know that what’s going on in or just outside the yard is legitimate. If in doubt, check with colleagues. Deception attempt Thieves failed in their attempt to get a trailer of alcohol products from Hams Hall, near Birmingham to Lux Approach, Manor House, London E12. The name given was David Williams, mobile phone number 07853 754490, terms: cash on delivery. Suspicious traffic office staff alerted the company security manager and the delivery was cancelled. Stolen trailer We have been asked to alert members to a red and white Dennison trailer, new in 2007, stolen from the Worcester area at approximately 10pm on Monday 24 September. Livery is O’Reilly Transport Ireland Limited, with fleet number ORT 780. The trailer was loaded with ‘KNAUF’ glassfibre roof insulation on 26 pallets. Any sightings should be reported to police or to Eugene O'Reilly at O'Reilly Transport Ireland Limited, Dublin. Direct line: 00 353 1 8659005 or mobile: 00 353 86 2430185. A dangerous development in load theft? Overnight on 5-6 September 2007 an hgv tractor unit and trailer was parked and attended on the motorway service area at Hopwood Services, M42, junction 2, Worcestershire (West Mercia Police area). Thieves slashed the trailer curtains and stole a part load of vacuum cleaners. But before leaving the scene they decided to set fire to the trailer and the remaining load. The driver was asleep in his cab but luckily was alerted by another driver and able to detach his unit. The trailer was completely burnt out. Fortunately this is a very rare event but it underlines the fact that drivers should stay alert. Collecting returns FTA has also received a message concerning a vehicle and driver trying to con Asda of property, on two separate occasions at Wembley and then Park Royal, on the pretext of being sent to collect returns. He produced a scrappy piece of paper with a manager’s name on as authorisation. While staff made enquiries the driver panicked and drove off. Keep alert! Police success At approximately 4am on 14 September on Faraday Avenue, Hams Hall Industrial Estate near Coleshill, Warwickshire, a Romanian driver was distracted from his cab to look at the rear of the trailer. This contained £100K of wine on 26 pallets. Three white male offenders in a silver Subaru Impreza bearing registration number similar to BG07AGF, stole the lorry. However, vehicle and load were later found abandoned on the M6 Toll road due to police activity.Telephone deception theft prevented An FTA member has informed us about a telephone deception attempt at its Bradford depot.A male calling himself 'William' called at night asking to speak with the supervisor. The male stated he was employed by DHL and tried to organise the collection of a previously delivered load. The staff member became suspicious and the caller was thwarted. If anyone has information regarding the items in this Theft Alert! you can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 as well as the contact number given above. |
Other contacts
TRUCKWATCH
Some areas of the UK operate TruckWatch schemes, whereby companies in a local area undertake to watch out for each other if one of the group members reports a vehicle stolen. To find out whether a scheme operates in your area contact your local police station.
TRUCKPOL
TruckPol is the nationwide police intelligence service based near Coventry, which records information on all aspects of road freight crime. By submitting information to TruckPol you could help police solve a serious crime in our industry.
Tel: 02476 516 246
Tel: 02476 826 123
Fax: 02476 826 131
Email: truckpol@avcis.pnn.police.uk
FTA
If you would prefer us to make contact with the police on your behalf, FTA’s manager of lorry and load theft issues is Donald Armour.
Tel: 01892 55 22 61
Fax: 01892 534 989
Email: darmour@fta.co.uk
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