Tackling freight crime – RHA calls on industry to back vital campaign

RHA urges freight industry to support its campaign for a new Freight Crime Bill, which proposes creating a specific crime code, implementing stricter sentences, and securing £6m annual funding for NaVCIS to combat the £111m annual cost of freight crime.

The RHA (Road Haulage Association) is urging the industry to call on MPs to back measures to tackle freight crime.

The Association has set up an online tool featuring a message to MPs to support the RHA’s campaign ahead of the second reading of the Freight Crime Bill on 12 September. MP Rachel Taylor proposes that freight crime has its own crime code to help police target hotspots.

Police figures show the value of goods stolen alone in 2024 is at least £111m – an increase of 63 percent on the previous year. Police estimate the cost to the UK economy as more than £1bn since 2020.

Declan Pang, RHA Public Affairs and Policy Director, says freight crime is likely to be under recorded without a crime code to differentiate incidents from other thefts from vehicles; and he calls on hauliers to use the RHA’s online tool to lobby their MPs to support the Bill.

"The theft of hundreds of thousands of pounds of high-value goods from a lorry is recorded the same as the opportunistic theft of a phone or bag from a car.

This makes it extremely challenging for police to anticipate emerging trends and direct resources accordingly. A new crime code would improve intelligence and help officers better protect lorry drivers and their loads and vehicles from criminal gangs."

The RHA is also urging MPs to support calls for stricter sentences and for £6m annual funding to boost the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS) in the Autumn Budget.

“Freight crime disrupts supply chains, damages businesses, drives up prices, and affects manufacturers, retailers, and ultimately, consumers. It’s a low-risk, high-reward crime, perpetrated by organised gangs so we need to change that dynamic which is why we’re calling for stiffer sentences and the creation of a specific freight crime offence.

We also believe that ministers should allocate funding to NaVCIS, which is currently funded solely by the industry, to reduce freight crime and its impact on people and the economy.

I urge everyone in our industry to back this vital campaign and use this online tool – which only takes a minute to complete – to call on their MP to get behind these three measures that will help protect drivers and businesses, and dismantle the criminal networks who are committing these crimes.”

The RHA’s online MP contact tool: https://rhacontactmp.uk.net/.