French truck park gains first TAPA Level 1 security certification

Transported Asset Protection Association programme to tackle cargo crime completes another significant milestone, with the Delta Park Truck Secure Parking in Dourges meeting the highest Parking Security Requirements standard.

The Transported Asset Protection Association’s (TAPA) programme to tackle the biggest cause of cargo crime in Europe has completed another significant milestone with the Delta Park Truck Secure Parking in Dourges, France, becoming the first site in the entire Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region to achieve the highest Level 1 certification for the association’s new Parking Security Requirements (PSR).  

Since launching PSR earlier this year, TAPA has added nearly 5,000 parking places in 10 countries in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region to its secure parking database as part of its initiative to increase the supply chain resilience of its Manufacturer and Logistics Service Provider members. PSR is a TAPA EMEA initiative in response to the level of attacks on trucks in the region, most notably in Europe. There are other PSR partners and lower level certifications already in the programme but this is the first operator to achieve the highest Level 1 certification.

Delta Park’s Dourges site in Hauts-de-France provides 146 parking spaces for logistics operators looking for a secure and comfortable parking place in this high traffic area near the A1/E17. It is located just 1km from the junction of the A1 and the A21, the busiest road hub in Europe with more than 25,000 heavy trucks passing daily.

TAPA said parking in unsecured locations – such as roadside laybys, motorway service stations and industrial estates – is now the biggest threat to drivers, trucks and loads of high value, theft targeted goods. Most often, this choice is simply down to the severe lack of secure parking sites in the region which meet the security standards industry needs.

In 2018, a 22-year record high for incidents of cargo theft in EMEA, 2,342 or 58.8% of crimes involved attacks on trucks parked in unsecured locations. And, France is now a particular hotspot for incidents in Europe, which are reported to the Association’s Incident Information Service (IIS) database.

In the first half of 2019, TAPA recorded 1,220 cargo crimes in 12 regions of France. Losses reporting a value – which included a single theft of goods worth €3.4 million – averaged nearly €100,000 per crime in this period. Most significantly, 1,025 or 84.8% saw criminals targeting vehicles which had stopped in unclassified parking places.

Delta Park’s achievement was recognised by a special certificate presentation to Didier Felice, Vice President of TIP Trailer Services for the Mediterranean region, by TAPA EMEA Board Member, Rein de Vries, and the Association’s PSR Marketing Coordinator, George Wiessing.

In addition to providing secured parking spaces for drivers and their goods, TIP has built a complex of facilities for drivers, which are available 24/7. These include free showers, free wi-fi, laundry and snacks vending machines. A restaurant located at the entrance of the parking completes this offer of services.

Didier Felice commented: “Faced with the demands of our customers and associations like TAPA, we wanted to provide a solution to the problems of securing the flow of goods, with our main concern being the safety of goods and drivers. TIP has ensured that our Delta Park site uses the latest technologies available in terms of thermal camera video surveillance and access control as well as secure perimeter fencing and a 24/7 security guard. We are thrilled to have PSR1 certification from TAPA EMEA, as it was our target from the beginning to provide the best security conditions to our clients.”

Thorsten Neumann, President and CEO of TAPA EMEA, said: “Our members will be delighted to see Delta Park’s commitment to meeting the highest standards of our Parking Security Requirements (PSR) and we hope this will inspire more and more Parking Place Operators (PPOs) to join our secure parking programme, which is based on several tiers of participation. Delta Park is demonstrating the commitment and professionalism our Manufacturer and Logistics Service Provider members want to see, and I am confident their investment in secure parking will be rewarded with new parking bookings from companies intent on protecting their drivers, vehicles and cargoes.

“The TAPA PSR Security Standard makes sense to PPOs because they know it has been created by their customers and, therefore, meets their requirements. This is reflected in the increasing number of PPOs working with us.

“We expect this to grow to 20,000 to 30,000 secure parking places in the EMEA region by the end of 2020 because the demand for secure parking far exceeds the current level of supply.”

TAPA believes there are hundreds of professional parking sites in Europe that can meet its self-certification PSR Level 3, a free of charge certification for Parking Place Operators (PPOs). The programme also includes higher Level 1 and 2 certifications, which require sites to be audited by TAPA-approved Independent Audit Bodies (IABs).

Source: Lloyd’s