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Technology is Doing the Trick

Hijacking and vehicle theft remains a high priority problem in the trucking industry as evidence by a total of 5 773 trucks being hijacked in 1998 (we are still awaiting the 1999 figures from the Crime Information Analysis Centre of the SAPS). As we exit the 1900s and enter the new millennium, the good news is that efforts to use technology as a means recovering vehicles is going a long way towards helping ease the burden for transport operators. As we enter the new millennium, Patrick O'Leary looks back on how far we have come since this problem first raised its ugly head around 1994.

Anyone who does not fit a vehicle tracking an recovery device to his vehicle has only himself to blame in the event of a loss. The technology to track and recover vehicle is past the development phase. It now works and works well.

This statement would have been greeted with a great deal of scepticism in the past given that South Africa had to go through a fast and rather bumpy period of developing technologies to counter the growing tide of vehicle theft and hijackings. I recall back in 1994 when FleetWatch first started writing on this subject, everyone - including the police - was caught by surprise. And no wonder given the steep rise in this crime category. It's worth-while to recall the past in this regard.

From a low (if one can call it low) of 500 trucks hijacked in 1991, this rose steeply in 1992 to 586 and then seemed to settle the following year with an increase if only 13 trucks hijacked in 1993. So for the three years 1991 to 1993, the number of trucks hijacked rose by 99 from a base of 500.

And then came 1994, the year of the great election. While the world and South Africa celebrated the birth of our new nation, the hijackers and thieves celebrated the birth of the new era of truck hijacking and did so by giving themselves a gift of 836 trucks in one year worth a total - in load and assets - of R169.3-million.

This was easy takings and rich picking which obviously caught the attention of the syndicates who in 1995, hijacked a massive 1 692 trucks giving them a taking of R310,4-million. This represented a massive 103% increase over the year before. So, over a 12-month period, the number of trucks hijacked rose by staggering 856. This was more than the four year rise from 1991 to 1994. It was obvious that open season has been declared on South Africa trucks by the hijackers.

Scramble for solutions

I remember well during that time the scramble of companies for solutions. Toyota was one of the first companies to involve itself in the fight and it was Len Botha who took the initiative to stage a series of seminars and workshops around the country. Botha gathered together a number of security related companies and it was then that the market heard of things like satellite tracking. In fact, one of the early companies to involved itself in this field was actually called Sat-track. I recall a guy at the Toyota seminar bandying around a system called Tracker - which had not yet received official SAPS sanction but was being marketed from the podium as one of the potential solutions. A USA video was used as the marketing base and I remember one gentlemen commenting that although it worked overseas, that was no guarantee it would work here. That person's crystal ball was a little off considering where Tracker is today.

Plessey was also there claiming coverage which they certainly did not have at the time. Grinaker was also there with, if I recall correctly, its G-Tracker system as was Sat-track - and others.

It is interesting to note that most of these early day systems were structured around the GPS system and yet were being marketed and developed at the time in response to hijacking and theft. This was a bit of an anomaly as the GPS system has never been intended as a pure security system. It indicates very accurately the position of a vehicle, ship or whatever, but it has a serious security flaw in that it needs a direct line of sight to the satellites in order to function. Cut the antenna, hide the vehicle in a basement of obscure that line of sight by any other means and you will lose contact.

It was a fascinating time but also a frustrating one as many operators fitted systems to their fleets only to find they were left high and dry when either the system or the the company that developed and marketed it failed to perform. And, as outlined above, while technologists and other eager beavers were trying find solutions, the hijackers and thieves were running rampant.

There was also confusion - and this remains to this day - around the concept of using vehicle tracking systems for fleet management purposes as opposed to pure hijack and theft recovery purposes. The concept of using these systems for fleet management entered the picture at an early stage as many operators systems which would perhaps serve to help solve a short-term problem. "What happens when hijacking and theft is no longer. We will have a dud investment and dud equipment," was their cry.

To counter this, system developers started looking at ways to add value outside of the security arena and this brought in a host of real 'fly-by-night' players who were chancers at best, charlatans at worst. They made promises that were way beyond their capabilities which caused enormous damage in the industry. The false promise was a daily occurrence.

Focused approach

In the meantime, there were companies like Netstar, Tracker and Matrix which were developing along solid lines adopting focussed approaches rather than trying to be all things to all people. And they went through a torrid time. Netstar, for one, found it extremely difficult to keep up with demand and battled on the supply side.

Some may disagree but I venture the opinion that if the Altech group did step in, for the products of this company are well accepted in the market and are doing the job.

Matrix Vehicle Tracking was another company which was looking at the problem using a focussed approach and it was the insight of MD Stefan Joss that brought about the breakthrough this company needed.

"In 1994 , I identified that the criminals would become more sophisticated in their methods and realised that the ultimate security system would be to remotely track a vehicle on a real time basis," Joss recalls.

Joss search the world trying to find the right technology to match his vision but came but came back to the GSM system which, by then, was well established in South Africa with MTN having gone a long way down the road in establishing national coverage.

Realising that the trucking industry wanted national coverage - and that tapping into the cell network would bypass him having to set up a separate network - Joss settled on GSM technology and in 1996 launched what was hailed as a work-first, the MX1 GSM vehicle tracking system.

Tracker then got into the market using the SAPS as its partner in finding vehicles. As is well known, the Tracker, the Tracker system has enjoyed a large measure of success and is well accepted today.

FleetWatch has always maintained that no matter how good the tracking system is, it all comes to nil if you don't have the right people available to go in and get your vehicle out for you. It was thus that we saw the teams which - if I may venture - today rate among the best in the world.
One of the early pioneers in this field was Dave Renton who, along with Joao Vinagre of Capital Air, a helicopter pilot of note, worked out tactics combining ground and air crews in recovering vehicles. It was real war-type stuff - and remains between the reaction forces and the hijackers taking place.

Tandem systems

While some companies have stayed focussed on tracking and recovery, others have developed what could be referred to as tandem systems combining fleet management and security features. Here too, there are some excellent offerings with the add value to those companies who face a security risk but also want some form of real time - of historical - operational recording data.
The point to bear in mind is: The technology is no longer in its infancy. It's has gone beyond the development is now about to swing from the supplier to the operator. What operators now need to do is to accurately define their needs and then find a system to match those needs. There is not one system on the market that will meet all the diverse needs of transporters so you have to be specific. If your need is a pure security orientated one, then don't go for the fleet management systems but rather for a focussed tracking and recovery system - and even here you must select the one that suits your needs. If you have a need for more features, then look wider.

And is there still a need for these systems?. You bet there is considering that 5 773 trucks were hijacked in 1998. That was an increase of 1 477 trucks hijacked over 1997 and a massive hike of 2079 from 1996 when 3 694 trucks were hijacked. As stated from the outset, hijacking and theft remains a high priority problem in this industry.

Given this, one could comfortably say: Thank goodness for the vision and foresight of those who saw technology as a means to beat the criminals and went about developing such technologies for the good of the industry. We're not beating criminals but we are making inroads which means there is hope over the horizon.

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