Scania Communicator helps stop truck thieves

Scania is working hard to reduce the number of truck thefts globally using the Scania Communicator ‘black box'

With more than 170,000 Scania trucks connected across the world, including more than 1000 in Australia, Scania has the tools to prevent thefts in the first place, or to help track down a missing truck in good time.

When the Scania Communicator black box is live in the vehicle it is able to transmit its location, or be remotely contacted for a GPS location. This ability in itself should make a Scania less appealing to truck thieves.

If a Scania is reported stolen, the owner, in conjunction with Scania, can assist the police in tracking down the vehicle.

"A truck is a driver or business-owner’s most important asset and if it is stolen not only is it an inconvenience, but it represents a significant cost to the business," says Alexander Sundin, Scania Australia’s Driver Services Manager.

An example from Sweden proves illuminating.

One morning recently, Ulf Melin, the owner of Ulf Melin Entreprenad, discovered that his truck wasn’t in the garage where it had been left overnight.

"The driver thought that I was out driving it and rang me," Melin explains. "We immediately realised that the truck was stolen. I rang the police first and then Scania."

Because Ulf’s truck was equipped with the Scania Communicator, Scania was able to not only track it down, but track where it had been driven from the time it left Ulf’s garage to the time it was abandoned.

Rickard Seijbold, Scania’s Area Manager for Fleet and Driver Services in Sweden, was able to trace the truck.

"I turned on the Control Package and saw the truck’s most recent position," he says.

"Half an hour later, the police were on the scene. Everything happened really quickly."

Melin went with the police to the identified location and found the truck which was fortunately in good condition. "We were able to locate the truck thanks to the Communicator," he says.

Scania was also able to provide police with details of the truck’s route and where it stopped after it was stolen, information which could be of help to officers undertaking the investigation.

"Tracing stolen vehicles is just an added bonus of the Scania OnBoard and Scania Optimise systems, which are configured to provide owners and drivers with vehicle performance down to a very detailed level," says Alexander Sundin.

"This allows inefficiencies to be identified and steps taken to improve total operating economy, leading to greater operator profitability," he says.

Scania Communicator helps stop truck thieves

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