Risky business

I was in Europe a few weeks ago visiting several distribution facilities for future articles in DC Velocity. While in one warehouse in Belgium, I noticed a stack of fliers in the area where delivery drivers check in. What was odd was that the fliers were warning of the risk of theft of the goods they haul.

 

Drivers always need to be aware of the security of their goods with which they have been entrusted, but this warning seemed far beyond the normal amount of caution required. The flier displayed a picture of a truck being opened while it was moving at high speed. Apparently a group of thieves in this part of Europe, including Belgium, are pulling up to the rear of moving trailers, walking onto the hoods of their own vehicles, breaking the locks, and opening the trailers to remove goods.

 

I mentioned this to some of our editors who are our experts in covering the trucking industry and was told that incidents like this have also occurred in the United States. Apparently in one occurrence, the thieves drove a truck backwards at high speed so that the bed of their truck was within a foot of the rear of a trailer for easy pickings.

 

Possibly the use of rear cameras can help to reduce this threat. Regardless, it seems that if thieves are willing to take risks like these, it is nearly impossible to secure all freight 100 percent of the time. Being ever vigilant is about all that we can do.