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ARVAL offers “Top Five”
tips to construction fleets as
thefts from vans increase
» » ARVAL IS RELEASING NEW
advice to construction fleet
operators in the light of reports
that thefts from vans are rising
rapidly.
New figures obtained by
the BBC from 30 police forces
show that thefts from vans
have increased from 14,063 in
2014/15 to 22,749 in 2016/17.
A van is broken into every 23
minutes.
Paul Marchment, SME
Development Manager,
explained: “These figures
are consistent with what we
are hearing from fleets at the
moment. In our experience,
van crime tends to occur in
cycles and our feeling is that we
are on an upswing.
“What tends to happen
is that thieves devise a new
method of breaking into a
van, operators adopt ways of
preventing it, and there follows
a decrease in the crime. Then,
new techniques start to appear,
and the whole thing happens
again.
“Because of the nature of
the work that they do, with
tools and materials often
unavoidably left in the van,
construction fleets are very
prone to this kind of crime. This
is true from one man operators
to major corporations.”
Paul said that current
methods of theft involved
using tools to break through
the structure of the vehicle
or obtaining commercially
available transponder keys to
open vans.
“Manufacturers are trying
to increase payload and one
method is to reduce the weight
PARK THE VAN IN A
SENSIBLE PLACE
If your vans are being left
for a long period of time,
especially if construction
drivers take them home or
park them in hotel car parks
overnight, make sure that
it they are parked close to
an occupied building or
in a conspicuous, well-lit
location.
of the van by using lighter
steel. Unfortunately, this
means it is easier to use tools
to cut through the fabric of the
van or to bend door frames.
“Also, manufacturers have
done much to reduce the
effectiveness of transponder
keys on newer models,
however, they are still affecting
some vehicles that currently
remain on construction fleets,
especially among SMEs.”
While Arval acknowledges
that there isn’t a single perfect
solution to avoid being the
victim of crime, the leading
vehicle leasing company has
created five tips to van security
to help customers mitigate the
risk of theft:
FIT THE RIGHT SECURITY
EQUIPMENT
There are a range of
options available with
popular solutions for
construction fleets including
slam locks and trackers. Look
at which will be the best
way to protect your van and
make it difficult, noisy, or
time consuming for thieves
to get in.
PROTECT THE KEYS
Modern locking systems
make it comparatively
difficult to break into many
vans through the locks, so
thieves often target the keys.
Ensure that drivers keep them
secure and out of sight at all
times.
SELECTIVE BRANDING
A heavily liveried van is a
good advertisement for your
construction business – but
also an indication of what is
inside as criminals can target
certain industries or even
companies. If you are being
targeted by thieves, adopting
plain, white vans might be a
good move. Major fleets have
certainly done this in the
past.
LOCKSMITHJOURNAL.CO.UK | JUL/AUG 2017
Sponsored by SMP Security Solutions
GET THE RIGHT ADVICE
Making your vans more
secure can be an expensive
business. You can easily
add up to £1,000 to the cost
of a van in locks and other
security-related items. Make
sure that you are getting
professional advice, and
utilising relevant information,
that will enable you to fit the
right equipment to the right
vans operating in the right
areas.
Paul continued: “We
work very closely with
construction businesses to
examine the kind of crime
that is affecting their fleet
and come up with the best
solutions. This can range
from knowing which kind
of locks work best on a
particular model of van to
interrogating insurance
statistics to identify which of
your vehicles are operating in
high-risk, high-crime areas.
“Unfortunately there is no
one-size-fits-all solution, but
there are certainly several
steps that businesses from the
smallest to the largest can take
to mitigate the risk of falling
victim to van crime.”