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13 J. Transp. Sec. 1 (2020)

handle is hein.journals/jtransps13 and id is 1 raw text is: Journal of Transportation Security (2020) 13:1-18
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12198-020-00207-1
Fuel theft in road freight transport: understanding                  Checkfor
magnitude and impacts of anti-theft devices
Luca Urciuolii 12
Received: 18 October 2019 /Accepted: 14 February 2020/Published online: 8 June 2020
© The Author(s) 2020
Abstract
Fuel is one of the most important cost items that road carriers include in their freight
rates. It has been demonstrated that unexpected changes of fuel costs influence
mobility, logistics performance and profit margins. Experts believe that criminal
organizations are targeting the transport sector to steal, smuggle and contraband
diesel fuel. Today, very little data exist across the scientific community, depicting
this phenomenon. Hence, the goal of this study is to shed light on the problem of
diesel theft in freight transport, with a focus on determining its magnitude, its
geographical displacement, main modus operandi, and potential impact of protec-
tive measures. A survey is developed and used to collect data from members of the
Swedish Association of Road Transport companies. Replies from 189 companies
are collected (18.9% response rate) and analyzed. Overall, this study unveils that
about 150,225 1 of fuels have been stolen from Swedish road carriers. In addition,
data reveals that only a minority of these companies are affected by the problem,
opening the hypothesis that attacks are geographically concentrated in areas where
transport/logistics operations are intense. Several devices are available today to
avoid fuel theft. Among those, tank gauging and radar-based technologies are
preferred by companies, in view of their deterring effects.
Keywords Transport security - Fuel theft - Transport security measures - Supply chain
security
2 Luca Urciuoli
urciuoli@kth.se
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Department Industrial Engineering and Management,
Stockholm, Sweden
2  MIT-Zaragoza Logistics Center, Zaragoza, Spain

t__ Springer