If you’ve ever had your articles stolen from the back of your van whilst on site or parked up overnight and you’ve only had third party cover on your van insurance, there has always been a body dedicated to freight crime that you can turn to.
With the new trend of motorway pirates on the up, waiting to relieve you of your van’s contents even when you’re parked up on the A5 just for a cuppa and a bacon sandwich to get your day off to a heart start, it has been a comfort to know that Truckpol have been there to fight your corner. Specially manufactured components or prized possessions even the best van insurance cannot replace as well as having the articles that were stolen back in your possession.
However, this department is no longer funded by the public purse and has relied heavily over the last year on donations from the private sector. Since its inception in 2003, following the closure of its predecessor the National Stolen Lorry Load Desk, it has remained the only organisation involved in the collation and providing accurate, up-to-date statistical data about the levels of Truck crime on UK roads.
As the private sector are buckling their belt with the economy still looking so uncertain, there is a grave lack of funding being donated to Truckpol, who are in danger of folding without the aid further financial resource being made available to them. The information they provide does not solely act as a report that presents a set of figures that say: look how bad the UK’s truck crime figures are. Their findings are used to highlight ways in which truck crime prevention can be nipped in the bud.
The basis of their findings have contributed to many of the safety features and warnings we now take for granted. Without the availability of such security devices as immobilisers and steering locks and the development of real-time digital cameras used in road traffic assessment, truck and van insurance premiums would be rising at an even greater rate. The Road Haulage Association chief exec Geoff Dunning said the organisation would be sorely missed, should it disappear and truck crime prevention be put back ten years, so strong has their influence been.
As such, the RHA are combining their efforts with the Freight Transport Association to help sustain the department. Theo de Pencier, FTA chief exec also acknowledged the role highlighting how Truckpol had played its part in protecting vulnerable sectors of the freight sector from criminal gangs, which has helped us all retain cheaper van insurance policies than there would have been if these levels of crime had not been identified and made preventable.
