City Link, the UK's premium express delivery company, is bench-testing a unique security solution for its new fleet of curtainsider trailers to further enhance the level of service it provides to its Customers.
The bespoke system incorporates GPS satellite tracking and automatically alerts a central control room if a trailer stops outside designated areas.
Additionally it sends an alert if anyone tries to tamper with the electronically-sealed bonding cord that secures the curtainsiders en route which will also notify the control room of the trailer's exact location.
Furthermore, if, for example, a driver accidentally leaves a City Link Depot or Hub without fitting the bonding cord into the electronic seal, an alert will also be sent immediately.
So far the system has been fitted to 10 of City Link's trailers and the company intends to roll it out across the fleet after the bench-testing is complete.
"Essentially our vehicles should not stop between collection and delivery," explained Russell Mannix, City Link's Head of Security.
"If a driver stops en route with a locked cord it will tell our control room and specify where the vehicle is.
"We recently changed our large fleet from hard-sided to curtainsiders and we believe we have found the optimum solution for security seal and trailer tracking.
"We believe no-one else in the industry is operating in this way."
One of the unique features of the system is that the device is fitted to the trailer, not the tractor, enabling direct tracking of the vital part of the vehicle that contains our Customers' parcels.
The system was shown to work during the initial pilot when an alert was sent after a City Link trailer got stuck in a traffic jam caused by a road accident that brought the M40 motorway to a standstill.
On another occasion the control room was alerted when a City Link driver made an unscheduled stop for an emergency comfort break at Taunton Dean service station!
"The system is much simpler to operate because it only reports exceptions," explained Mr Mannix. "it sends alerts when events are not as expected.
"The current method, that uses a bonding cord secured with manual seals, involves thousands of seal numbers and managing all the data is complex.
"City Link delivers more than half a million parcels a day and this innovation will help ensure they are all delivered safely."