“The impact of freight crime needs to be seen” – RHA to BBC

RHA colleagues told the BBC that freight crime needs to be recognised as a specific offence to deter criminal gangs preying on hauliers.

Freight crime is destroying businesses, impacting the health, safety and wellbeing of our drivers and it's making it harder for firms to recruit and retain staff. Today we've been highlighting the urgent need for Government to tackle rising levels of freight crime. Freight crime cost the UK £460m last year. We need tougher sentencing, more secure truck stops and better crime recording

Despite being highly organised, freight crime often goes unseen and under the radar in the national conversation.

Policy Lead for Facilities, Ashton Cull appeared on BBC breakfast to highlight the severity of freight crime:

"It's remarkable that theft of perhaps millions of pounds worth of goods from the back of a truck is in many ways recorded the same as an opportunistic theft of a purse from a passenger vehicle of a personal vehicle. It needs to be clearer; the impact needs to be seen."

Ashton also told the BBC: "Freight crime is low risk, high reward for highly organised criminals. This is happening every night in truck stops across the UK. We believe the specific offence of freight crime should be recognised, with tougher sentencing in place to reflect the wider harm caused."

RHA Policy Lead for Infrastructure, James Barwise echoed these calls on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, wherein he underlined the impact freight crime has on the country

"What we're seeing now across the country cannot continue. Last year there was over 5,300 incidents of freight crime and £68 million worth of goods stolen. That's not a victimless crime, it has a huge impact on drivers and their mental health."

James also told the BBC: "We want to hear more from the new transport secretary regarding her support for the industry. Specifically, we need to see more safe and secure lorry parking. Without assistance from the Government on planning reform, we won't get the secure facilities that drivers and businesses need to feel safe when doing their job."

In our new Blueprint document released last week, we recommended actions to combat this issue to policy makers. We continue to call for more safe and secure parking and facilities. Additionally, we're calling for the creation of a specific recording category for freight crime incidents. We're also need to see much tougher sentencing options introduced to reflect the seriousness of the crime.

You can read the full document HERE.