City Link's eye on security

Date: Friday, October 1, 2010

Parcel delivery fleet City Link has started to fit security cameras to its vans in a 50-vehicle trial. Each is being equipped with four; two trained on doors, one inside the cargo area itself, and one in the cab.

They can stream live images direct to City Link’s central control room. The images are additionally recorded on-board the vehicle itself so that they can be downloaded later for examination if required.

Continuing to work while the van is left unattended, the cameras should act as a deterrent to thieves. They also have a number of other benefits, said City Link head of security, Russell Mannix.

“They can for example show that we loaded a particular parcel onto the vehicle then subsequently unloaded it for delivery,” he says. “This supports and enhances the GPS location information available from our hand-held scanners.

“The scanners also collect point-of-delivery signatures, offering a secure solution for our customers, from point-of-collection to point-of-delivery.”

“If a customer tells us that a parcel has not been delivered then we can work out what has occurred,” Mannix continued. “The GPS satellite tracking system used in conjunction with the VanCam images will tell us what has happened at any point in time.

“VanCam will clearly play a significant part in reducing losses and claims,” he says. “It should also help prevent drivers and their vehicles from being attacked and vehicles being stolen.”

The cameras were successfully piloted for an initial three months across a number of depots and they are now scheduled to undergo an extended trial on 50 vans.

Eventually City Link hopes to roll them out across its entire van fleet.



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