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Innovations in Transportation: Securing High-Value Cargo During Road Transport

The first thing that comes to mind when you think of high-value cargo is a trailer filled with iPhones or laptops. The problem for criminals with these shipments is that these devices are registered and can be tracked. For criminals, a second factor that makes a shipment high-value is the ease of selling it. This makes shipments of cigarettes and liquor, but also things like detergent, very desirable.

Securing Your Shipment with Weapons

Ahler’s CEO Stefan van Doorslaer spoke about secure transportation in the Does Logistics Matter? Podcast episode Technological Innovations in Secure Transportation. He talked about how you can secure a truck in the CIS by letting an armed guard sitting in the cab. An extra person in the cab can be a risk from a COVID standpoint. You can also have a car with an armed guard follow the truck, but that solution is more expensive.

Another downside of armed security is the negative brand impact if security guards have to open fire and there are casualties. If you take out the human aspect of security, you also remove the weakest link in the chain. Technology can’t be bribed...

Securing Your Shipment with Technology

There are solutions where tracking- and alarm systems are built into the trailer. This is more secure than an armed guard, but it also has a downside. Installing equipment in and on a trailer can be expensive. Your secure trailer then always needs to be available when you have a high-value shipment that you need to deliver. You can use the trailer for a low-value shipment, but you may not be able to secure a high-value shipment.

Securing Your Shipment with Flexible and Mobile Technology

We didn’t want to be limited in using a trailer, so we started looking into a mobile solution that could move from trailer to trailer. When we found no such security system, we began to develop our mobile security solution Safe-T. We developed our security system to secure a truck and a trailer and designed it so that it can be (un)installed in a truck in 5 minutes. This resulted in a unit with many different sensors, microphones, and cameras to keep an eye and ear on many parameters during the trip. All the data and images generated by these sensors and equipment are sent to our monitoring center, where the security of the trailer can be managed remotely.

A camera records what happens in the trailer, while microphones record the sound. There are sensors detecting movement in the trailer, the opening of the doors, the temperature and humidity inside the trailer, the truck’s speed, the exact location, and even the driver’s heartbeat. This allows all sorts of responses to unexpected events without the driver having to take action. Some examples:

  • Geofencing technology can trigger an alarm if the truck deviates from its route.
  • Temperature and humidity sensors can trigger an alarm when there is a sudden change in temperature or humidity, for example, through a hole in the trailer.
  • A spike in the driver’s heartbeat can indicate that they are in danger.
  • A panic button on the driver’s phone immediately alerts the monitoring center

Our monitoring center, operating 24/7, can monitor the systems remotely. When there seems to be a problem, they can contact the driver to check-in or pro-actively warn police, repair-, or emergency services and direct them to the location of the truck to stop an ongoing robbery or help a driver with a health issue.

Customs and Insurance

Our Safe-T security solution has been proven to be very effective. Phillip Morris, for example, uses Safe-T to protect its shipments of cigarettes. The devices have also been certified for customs and insurance purposes. They have EAC and CE certificates, which means they are approved for use by both the European and Eurasian Customs Authorities.

The same goes for insurance companies. For certain types of shipments, there are now new protocols. Armed guards are no longer an obligation. A Safe-T system suffices.

Security as a Service

We not only enable the safe and secure shipment of goods by truck for our clients. Any company can benefit from the flexibility, mobility, and high level of security of our advanced security solution. Use the contact us button at the bottom of this page to get in touch with one of our transport security specialists to enquire about leasing options. Enjoy the benefits of Security as a Service. In the meantime, we keep developing and enhancing Safe-T to increase the safety and security of your shipments and your drivers even more.