Service station and truckstop owners in Britain are being urged to beef up security in the wake of a shock survey showing that one in six international truck drivers had been robbed and in many cases assaulted in five years.

The survey of over 2,000 drivers, carried out by the International Road Transport Union between 2000 and 2005, revealed that 17% had been robbed, of whom 21% had been physically assaulted. Theft from loads accounted for 60% of the robberies, but drivers and their possessions had been the target in 40% of cases. The IRTU estimates that thefts from lorries cost the industry €7 billion during the survey period.

Most of the attacks occurred in Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Russia. But Debbie Jones, General Manager of Warwickshire-based commercial vehicle safety and security specialist Viper Guard, warned that operators and drivers in Britain were not immune.

Hampshire Police had reported 48 thefts from lorries in service stations on the A34 in 2007, she said, with a further three in January 2008. Most of the cases involved siphoning diesel, with an average loss of 300 litres, but high-value goods including cases of spirits and washing machines had also been targeted.

Backing Hampshire Police's call for site owners to close private slip roads and install better lighting and CCTV, Debbie said: "The IRTU survey reveals that 42% of the thefts occurred in truck parks and a further 19% in service stations. Operators and drivers deserve better from the site owners, especially as many truck parks claim to be secure areas."

And she called on the Highways Agency to make genuinely secure parking areas a mandatory feature of all trunk road improvement schemes.

"This isn't just about money," she said. "Drivers are in the front line, and the level of personal risk they run and the anxiety they suffer is completely unacceptable. If this were the case in any other industry the Government would be rushing through new legislation to stop it. Businesses and workers in Road Transport deserve the same concern for their safety and security."

The IRTU also called for operators to put more emphasis on their own vehicle security systems, and Debbie said: "Hauliers are more and more attentive to security considerations, but the industry as a whole still has a long way to go before it can claim it is doing everything in its power to protect its vehicles and drivers."

Further information:
Debbie Jones or Nick Blake
01789 471515
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