TT Talk: Britain starts to clamp down on road freight crime

The British government has recognised the urgent need to clamp down on cargo thefts from trucks. A new report to the Department of Transport has confirmed the importance of providing properly safe truck stop for drivers of the nation’s 437,000 heavy goods vehicles, who move 89% of all national freight by road. A new Freight Crime Bill, which aims to introduce a separate crime classification code for freight crime as well as much needed funding for the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Services’ (NaVCIS) Freight division, is now working its way through Parliament. 

Truck parking report

Over the past 12 months, TT Club together with NaVCIS have led a Department for Transport established Task and Finish Group workstream to examine how the standard of UK truck parking facilities could be improved. Developed in collaboration with industry stakeholders, the Task and Finish Group’s report, published in August 2025, revealed that 5,373 road freight crimes were committed in 2023, with a combined estimated value of £68 million in stolen cargo, vehicles and carrying equipment.

Nearly a third (32%) of thefts took place while trucks were parked in supposedly ‘safe’ facilities.

The report identified the 10 most criminally active lorry parks in the UK over the past four years. These were spread over a wide area of the South East and the Midlands, suggesting that the criminals were not attracted to particular locations, but to ease of access and security weaknesses. Specialist Design Out Crime police officers (DOCO’s) who advise on preventing crime and anti-social behaviour by incorporating crime prevention principles into the design and layout of the built environment, then inspected the sites and provided guidance on how to improve security.

Recommendations made by the officers included a strong perimeter fence, segregation from passenger vehicles, access control, security patrols, closed-circuit television monitoring and lighting. In response the to the report, the Department of Transport stated, ‘the Government recognises the need to provide all HGV drivers with access to appropriate facilities…not just to attract new drivers to the profession, but to support the health and wellbeing of those already in the sector’.

Promoting security standards

The report concluded,

‘The security at the majority of lorry parking facilities in England is currently inadequate. This issue is exacerbated by market forces and dynamics that do not incentivise operators to invest in necessary security measures. To address this, it is imperative to change the existing market dynamic. Increasing the number of lorry parking facilities could help shift the market by balancing supply and demand.’

A key recommendation was to raise awareness of the available security standards, ensuring that truck parking operators and facility users understood what the standards represented in the context of security for the industry. There are currently three established lorry parking standards available in the UK: the Parking Security Requirements (PSR) Standard developed by the Transported Asset Protection Association, the Safe and Secure Truck Parking Areas (SSTPA) Standard developed and adopted by the European Union, and the Police Crime Prevention Initiative’s Park Mark Freight standard managed by British Parking Association. 

The report also called on the government to further adopt the European approach of providing match-funding to truck park operators which either have already achieved recognised standards or will achieve recognised standards because of the investment.

New Freight Crime Bill

Another recommendation was for the government to review the current crime classification for freight crime. It said, ‘Having a dedicated freight crime classification code would enable more accurate data to be collated in reference to this type of crime. It would also build a greater level of deterrence, ensuring that freight crime has adequate sentencing guidelines that reflect the seriousness of the offence, designating freight crime as an aggravated vehicle crime offence.’

In March 2025, Rachel Taylor MP tabled a new Freight Crime Bill which will do exactly that if enacted. She said, ‘The Bill would create a separate crime code for freight theft from a vehicle. With this specific code and classification, large-scale thefts of freight goods would be categorised differently, allowing police to respond to them as organised and targeted freight theft, rather than them being lumped together with domestic car break-ins and other car crime.’

She said the change would help police to deal with incidents more effectively in real time. Call handlers would be able to ask specific questions and follow responses and procedures specific to freight crime, allowing police to respond to incidents faster and more appropriately, stopping incidents and patterns slipping through the cracks. The Bill is due to have a second reading in the House of Commons on 12 September 2025 and has already received widespread industry support – including from TT Club.

Conclusion

The UK’s road haulage industry is critical to the smooth operation of supply chains and in delivering future growth. It employs over 1.8 million people and contributes £13.5 billion to the national economy.

It is therefore vital that the security and well-being of its drivers are given a high priority –the new Department of Transport report and Freight Crime Bill are welcome steps in the right direction. 

Freight crime is a global issue both for the industry and wider society. It is hoped, if successful, that the approach taken by the UK Government to address the challenge of freight crime, could be adopted by other countries in the future.