Our industry is under attack from criminal gangs

Earlier this week we held our latest Freight and Logistics All Party Parliamentary Group meeting in Westminster where we launched a report highlighting the rise of freight crime and calling on the Government to address this growing issue nationally. Earlier this week we held our latest Freight and Logistics All Party Parliamentary Group meeting in Westminster where we launched a report highlighting the rise of freight crime and calling on the Government to address this growing issue nationally.

Freight crime is low risk, high reward for highly organised criminals and it's happening daily across the country. It's destroying businesses, impacting the health, safety and wellbeing of drivers and it's making it difficult for businesses to recruit and retain staff. Last year alone there were 5,370 reports of HGV and cargo crime across the UK, with at least £68.3 million worth of goods stolen. That's solely crimes that have been reported. Our industry is under attack, and we know that there are still many crimes going unreported daily. Since 2020, the true estimated value of loss due to freight crime is believed to be over £1 billion.

We hear it every day from members; everything from clothing and electrical goods to food, alcohol, and perfumes are prey for highly organised crime gangs who are monitoring hauliers' journeys and taking risks to steal high-value goods. At the APPG we also heard from our colleagues at NaVCIS about a recent growth in more sophisticated attacks where fraudsters are using emails and messaging apps to collect data and gain access to loaded trucks. This is deeply concerning.

The chronic shortage of safe and secure parking spaces and roadside facilities is leaving drivers and businesses extremely vulnerable to this crime. It's clear too that the police are trying hard but are severely under resourced to adequately deal with the scale of freight crime. We heard this directly from NaVCIS.

In the report, entitled 'Securing Our Supply Chains: How the government can crack down on freight crime' we are calling for immediate action.

I'd like to thank all our members who attended and represented the industry. Thanks to Rachel Taylor MP (APPG Chair) for being a strong voice in parliament on this issue. We'd also like to thank to Ben Clark, Chief Superintendent and LCU Commander at Thames Valley Police for attending and sharing his experiences and expert opinion on the way forward.

We'll continue to engage with all the MPs in the APPG who continue to support our industry. We will continue to work on behalf of our members to press Government to act to crack down on these dangerous criminals and safeguard our drivers, businesses and supply-chains.

Read more about this in The Times: https://www.thetimes.com/article/a0397c6c-7242-4c0f-a4b7-cc0836bf909e?shareToken=5c17dd61217a67c5bd4200f09e987a1d

You can also read the full report and our calls to action:

https://www.rha.uk.net/Portals/0/RHA_APPG%20Freight%20Crime%20Report_241112.pdf?ver=UsWyWuWYdhkXr9K6Uq1ylQ%3d%3d