It’s Christmas again and that means one thing…lot’s of parcels being delivered all around the country by van drivers.
Unfortunately, one delivery van in Burnley got stolen last week, and although Police later found the van abandoned in a street, the 150 parcels it was carrying were nowhere to be found.
This wasn’t an isolated incident either. On that very same day another delivery van was also stolen in Burnley. Fortunately, on this occasion the driver was coming towards the end of his shift which means he didn’t have any parcels left to be stolen.
This comes at a time when Police are warning delivery van drivers around the country to not leave their engines running while making a delivery.
While it has not been confirmed exactly how the 2 vans in Burnley were stolen, typically speaking, when these kind of vehicles are taken it is because the driver got out to make a quick delivery and then left the keys in the ignition with the engine running.
It all happens so fast, and before the driver knows it their van is being driven off down the street by a thief who was just waiting for the smallest of opportunities.
Not only does leaving your keys in the ignition make the chances of your van being stolen more likely, but it also puts you in a bad situation if you need to make a claim on the insurance policy.
I’m sure that your van insurance provider is not going to be thrilled when they ask how the van was stolen, only to be told that you basically handed the keys to the criminals…and even left the engine running for them so it made the getaway even easier.
If you work for a big company then your boss won’t be impressed either, because the company will find it hard to claim on the van insurance.
Of course, there is a good chance the van will be found by Police in no time at all, but this doesn’t always happen, and as we’ve just seen in Burnley, many times the vans reappear but without those parcels.
It’s Christmas time remember, which means it’s now more important that all those parcels arrive safely to their intended destination.
So what is the solution? The only way is to turn off the engine, take out the keys and then lock the door when you are making a delivery.
Sure, it is going to take you a bit longer to deliver all the parcels, but at the end of the day it’s better to get everything delivered and be 30 minutes over schedule, rather than being back at the depot by lunchtime having to tell your boss the van was stolen.
