Christophe Codderrens, boss of the transport company C’Express, calls on the services of the gendarmerie to avoid fuel theft, on March 16, 2022 in Castelnau-d’Estrétefonds, near Toulouse (AFP / Valentine CHAPUIS)
The huge tanks of heavy goods vehicles, which contain several hundred liters of fuel, arouse covetousness at a time when the price of diesel is soaring, and companies are trying to protect themselves against theft and siphoning.
“It happened to us on the highway, while the driver is sleeping in a rest area (…) He wakes up in the morning and when he starts, he sees that the tank is almost at zero. He was siphoned !”, laments Christophe Codderrens, boss of C’Express.
The 14 drivers of this transporter based in Castelnau-d’Estrétefonds, near Toulouse, are therefore instructed to park as prominently as possible, in well-lit areas, to avoid this type of disappointment.
Otherwise the traffickers slip discreetly near the tank, “break the cap, slip a pipe into the tank and with a small pump, they suck up the diesel to transfer it into jerrycans, then take them away”, explains this business manager from 53 years old, mimicking the gestures on one of his trucks.
At more than two euros per liter of fuel, stealing even a part of one of the two 500-litre tanks of a 44-ton truck is more profitable than attacking cars.
– Fences, cameras, alarms –
If the phenomenon of thefts and siphonings is not yet massive in France, “it is accentuated”.
A Security referent from the Haute-Garonne gendarmerie group checks the tank of a truck from the transport company C’Express, on March 16, 2022 in Castelnau-d’Estrétefonds, near Toulouse (AFP / Valentine CHAPUIS)
“But hey, we know the cause: it’s the increase in the price of diesel, which has exploded. And the more it goes up, the more flights we will have”, confirms to AFP Mr. Codderrens, while he receives the Security referent from the Haute-Garonne gendarmerie group, who has come to advise him.
The authorities are indeed warning of the need to put in place preventive measures. “We go around the company, we look at the fences, the alarm systems, video … all the protection system put in place”, specifies the marshal of the logis-chief Isabelle Maress.
It is one of the 720 Safety referents responsible, among other things, for carrying out prevention missions with economic players, with the support of 3,600 correspondents trained in the brigades.
A Security referent from the Haute-Garonne gendarmerie group in front of the trucks of the transport company C’Express, on March 16, 2022 in Castelnau-d’Estrétefonds, near Toulouse (AFP / Valentine CHAPUIS)
This policeman even travels “to Latin America, Africa, etc.” to advise French companies established in other countries.
With the Covid pandemic, it was necessary to improve the protection “of companies at a standstill, therefore of goods, of vehicles exhibited on empty sites. And we continue (…) to try to limit damage and theft of fuel in this somewhat difficult period”, she adds.
– Bring in the empty tank –
The gendarmerie has also “increased the number of general surveillance patrols during the day, but also at night”, as well as on highways and rest areas, with preventive actions with truck drivers.
A Security referent from the Haute-Garonne gendarmerie group checks the tank of a truck from the transport company C’Express, on March 16, 2022 in Castelnau-d’Estrétefonds, near Toulouse (AFP / Valentine CHAPUIS)
“We give advice (…) such as returning with almost empty tanks”, explains the Security referent.
This instruction, Mr. Codderrens previously gave it on an ad hoc basis to his drivers, who criss-cross France and even neighboring countries with their large carriers, semi-trailers, flatbed cranes or car transporters.
But it is now systematic: “On Fridays, they are asked to return with as little diesel as possible” in the parking lot of C’Express, equipped with “powerful halogens to light the trucks”.
For the past year, the site has also been surrounded by cameras and under alarm, connected to a remote surveillance system.
A surveillance camera installed in the enclosure of the C’Express transport company, on March 16, 2022 in Castelnau-d’Estrétefonds, near Toulouse (AFP / Valentine CHAPUIS)
This entrepreneur, on the other hand, does not consider it useful, and even counterproductive, to equip the trucks with anti-burglary caps: if the traffickers “really want to take the diesel, they will pierce the tank. So that will cause more damage!”
The real solution against siphoning would be, according to him, “diesel at a consistent price”. “When it was lower, we didn’t have these flying problems!”
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© 2022 AFP
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