Road freight theft is a problem experienced right across the EU. It is estimated that one in six European lorry drivers have been attacked over the past five years!

Most theft occurs when heavy goods vehicles are left unoccupied overnight in unprotected parking bays but there is an increasing trend towards hijacking of and theft from occupied vehicles. Thieves use several methods to hijack a vehicle, including:

Load diversion – the driver gets a call purporting to be from his depot or his customer stating that he should change his route and is then intercepted.
Deception – a criminal purporting to be the company driver will collect the vehicle or goods from the warehouse with fraudulent documents.

Gas or explosives – gas will be piped through the air vents into the driver’s cabin or explosives may be used as a diversion. Gas related incidents have been seen across Europe in Spain, the UK, France, Italy and Belgium while in Sweden armed gangs have been using explosives.
Fake police/customs officers – criminals dressed as the police or customs officers signal the driver to pull over, and then take control of the vehicle – often wearing genuine uniforms

Staged accident – an accident is staged so that the driver has to stop

Forced stop – a fake checkpoint may be set up so that the driver has to stop and the vehicle is taken by force. This method is popular in Russia.

GOODS TARGETED
Road freight theft has been on the increase since the 1990s with the intial targets being vehicles carrying tobacco, wine and spirits. The target has broadened to include vehicles carrying electrical goods, memory chips, mobile phones – all of which can be sold easily. The trucks used to transport art look very similar to those used to move electronics!