Logistics UK joins forces with TAPA EMEA to tackle freight crime

As freight crime incidents continue to affect operators nationwide, business group Logistics UK has formed a partnership with TAPA EMEA, the Transported Asset Protection Association’s Europe, Middle East & Africa region, to help build information sharing and resilience across the logistics industry.   

“The safety and security of our members’ staff while delivering for the economy is of paramount importance,” says Maddi Solloway-Price, Logistics UK’s Head of Road Freight Policy, “which makes our partnership with TAPA EMEA such a great fit for us. As the world’s leading supply chain security and resilience association, TAPA EMEA is committed to helping minimise losses from its members through information sharing, training and monitoring – all elements of moving goods which we are keen to help our members improve. By tapping into their expertise, and sharing our own knowledge with them, we are confident that the partnership will help to drive awareness of and create solutions for future issues, before they occur.”   

“Growing industry collaboration to highlight the threat of cargo crime to supply chains in the UK, and increasing awareness at a government level, is very encouraging. TAPA EMEA and our members are only too aware of the high level of freight crime across the UK. As well as gathering and sharing more intelligence to understand when, where, and how these crimes occur, we also encourage industry stakeholders to use the various security and crime prevention solutions already available to reduce the chances of falling victim to cargo crime,” said TAPA EMEA’s President & CEO, Thorsten Neumann. “These include our own supply chain security Standards for facilities, trucking, secure parking, and cyber security as well as Driver Security Guides and training courses, all created to minimise supply chain losses,” he added.     

Establishing a working partnership with TAPA EMEA is the latest step on Logistics UK’s path to improving driver safety and welfare for all its members. The development comes hot on the heels of other agreements which have been established in recent months with NAVCiS (the National Vehicle Crime and Intelligence Service) and the app-based service Motorway Buddy, both with the intention of improving reporting around vehicle crime and highlighting ways for drivers to avoid and prevent potential criminal attacks on vehicles.   

“Logistics UK is redoubling its efforts to improve the safety and security of hauliers operating on the UK’s strategic road network,” continues Ms Solloway-Price, “by improving information flows across the industry and sharing best practice to keep drivers and their vehicles as safe as possible. Our industry is one that the economy relies upon to deliver on time and our drivers are the backbone of that service – any information and guidance that we can share between our organisations will help to keep us all as well informed as possible to counteract potential criminal attacks. Meanwhile, we will continue to share all intelligence that we gather with government representatives as we press for an improved nationwide network of secure parking and rest facilities.”   

As part of the new partnership, representatives of Logistics UK will be attending the annual conference organised by TAPA EMEA, to discuss ways of working together and sharing information with their members. This follows on from recent round tables held in London and Edinburgh with Rachel Taylor MP and representatives of the Scottish government where Logistics UK members outlined the challenges which are currently being faced by drivers when out on the UK’s roads.   

“Those of us who work in offices take it for granted that we are safe and secure at work, and can take a comfortable rest when the working day ends,” Ms Solloway-Price continues. “This is not a done deal for our logistics drivers – but in partnership with TAPA EMEA, NAVCIS and Motorway Buddy, Logistics UK is committed to driving change from the government.”   

Harry Hughes, TAPA EMEA’s UK Regional Lead, added: “It’s easy to dismiss the impact of cargo crime, until you suffer a major loss. Then, the reality kicks in. Attacks on supply chains not only put frontline staff at risk, the resulting high-value losses can pose a real threat to customer relationships, too. By working more closely with Logistics UK and other partners in the UK, we believe we can collectively make a positive difference to the resilience of our national and cross-border supply chains.”     

Logistics UK is one of the UK’s biggest business groups, representing logistics businesses which are vital to keeping the UK trading, and more than seven million people directly employed in the making, selling and moving of goods. With decarbonisation, new technology and other disruptive forces driving change in the way goods move across borders and through the supply chain, logistics has never been more important to UK plc. Logistics UK supports, shapes and stands up for safe and efficient logistics, and is the only business group which represents the whole industry, with members from the road, rail, water and air industries, as well as the buyers of freight services such as retailers and manufacturers whose businesses depend on the efficient movement of goods. For more information about the organisation and its work, please visit logistics.org.uk 

The Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) is a not-for-profit industry Association founded in 1997 to help Manufacturers & Shippers and Freight & Logistics Service Providers minimise losses from supply chains resulting from cargo thefts. Today, in Europe, the Middle East & Africa (EMEA), TAPA EMEA’s membership community consists of over 1,000 companies and organisations, also including insurers, parking place operators, security service providers, and law enforcement agencies. TAPA EMEA offers certified industry Standards for Facilities, Trucking, Secure Parking, and Cyber Security as well as its TAPA EMEA Intelligence System (TIS), a database updated daily with cargo theft incidents to increase awareness of criminal threats to supply chains and to support risk mitigation. The Association also provides training, guidance, and networking events. Visit TAPA EMEA’s website at www.tapaemea.org