Amazon Prime van stolen

Amazon has GPS on the van.

Didn't stop it getting stolen and looted.

Nor getting as far as Tulsa, Oklahoma

The method is not likely intended for vehicle recovery. It's to spy on the drivers :-)

They want to see if the drivers are following the computer generated delivery order. The driving instructions from the computer, are intended to make delivery as efficient as possible. They don't want the drivers doing any "I know a shortcut" things, where a van ends up in a peat bog or something.

Apparently the drivers are allowed some freedom packing the truck. They're taught some variation of LIFO. I guess there's no good way to override the drivers entirely.

As long as all the drivers are as smart as Bezos, they'll do OK.

Some vehicle thefts, the thief isn't bringing the vehicle to a chop-shop, instead they need the vehicle to haul swag from another robbery they have planned. After which the vehicle is abandoned, once the goods are transferred out into their first-person vehicle. That's so all the video cameras won't get a sniff of their plate numbers.

If they wanted vehicle recovery, they could fit the vehicle with video cameras and a remote disable. And just shut off the engine, if something isn't right about the scenario.

The GPS is a technique similar to what's been used on long-haul transport for a while (can be used as a double-check on log book violations, driving too many hours in one session).

Paul

Likely the van was stolen, so it could be cleared out of it's parcels.

It also allows them to tell me when the delivery is X stops away. I remember getting a vehicle potion from DPD for a delivery that was due an hour later. It was in a nearby industrial site, next to the cafe, at lunchtime.

With an Amazon Prime van, it is probably the contents they are after. Perhaps they should have keyless ignition, so that the driver can keep the transponder in his pocket and it can't be driven away unless he is close by. OTOH, that could simply result in him being mugged for the transponder.

...or back in time two years. Isn't technology wonderful?

Nearly 20 years ago I worked for a company that took delivery of a new liveried van. Its driver was one of those who thought that locking it while making deliveries was beneath him, so a couple of weeks later it was stolen, but it had a tracker. A week or so later the tracker company reported a location for it, about 30 miles from where it was stolen. I went to fetch it, and found it tucked away, out of sight where it wouldn't be found by chance, while the thief, or thieves, waited to see if it did have a tracker. The irony of it is that the only item stolen was the driver's bag, which contained about £200 in cash from the lottery syndicate that he ran. Don't know why it took so long for the tracker location to be identified. Don't know if the driver refunded the lottery money to the pool members either.

I can remember the days when very few people locked their car while going into a petrol kiosk after filling up their car. Now everyone does. I read of a case where a woman had her car stolen while she was filling up - so she was only a couple of feet away, albeit on the other side of the car. The report didn't say whether she'd left her keys in the ignition: I never do, partly dating back to when I had a car with a lockable petrol cap (as opposed to recent cars which have a cap that has no lock but which is behind a lockable flap).

If the driver *had* locked his van, I wonder how much of a deterrent it would have been. If the bike has been following from an earlier stop they could have scanned for the code that the remote key sent when he locked on the previous occasion, then worked out the next rolling code that would be used while they were following the van, ready to unlock it as soon as the driver stopped.

And I suppose they could have stolen the van while the driver was getting the package out of the back, before he was able to lock the van once he closed the rear door.

Leaving the van doors unlocked is partly excusable; not even removing the keys from the ignition is not.

Unlikely that Bezos personally decides what happens.

So as long as all the drivers are as smart as those who design the tracking system, they'll do OK. But drivers aren't exactly rocket scientist material, so it is very unlikely that all the drivers are as smart as those who design the tracking system or they wouldn't be drivers, stupid.

With many deliveries and short distances between them, it may be necessary to leave the engine running, so as to avoid both wearing out the starter/ring-gear and flattening the battery.

Better would be a system similar to that on police cars - as they now have so many computers for ANPR, comms and database access, that take ages to boot up, they leave them running, which means that the engine must be left running - so they have a system that prevents the car be driven, even though the engine is running.

In the UK, it's illegal to leave the engine running when the driver is not seated inthe vehicle. Perfect use for an electric vehicle.

Indeed, if manufacturers ever come up with one with a good enough range for delivery drivers. They?re getting there, but room for improvement.

Surely the simplest solution is an RFID chip implanted in the driver?s buttock and a chip reader in the seat? ;-)

Tim

No - indeed it is often necessary when fault finding, to get out and look or listen with the engine running. It is illegal to leave a vehicle

Separately (from insurance claims initially being denied) case law has ruled that if the vehicle remains within the possible view of the driver, it is not unattended. Precedent being set by a court ruling that a car stolen when the keys were left in it, was not unattended, when the driver could see it from the till where he was paying for petrol.

Electric vans typically have very short ranges (far less than cars) and are insufficient for many delivery rounds - for example a Ford e-Transit has a range of 166 miles. In reality that will be more like 150, but in cold weather, below 100. It could be 20 miles each way from depot to delivery area, leaving only 60 miles to last the day for deliveries ... and that's without leaving any reserve.

I saw a YouTube video showing the conversion of an ex UPS delivery vehicle for normal use. UPS in the US use a special lock which prevent the engine starting / running unless a ?key? the driver wears on his wrist is inserted in a hole/ slot. I?m not sure if it must stay there but certainly, when the driver leaves the vehicle, he must use it to restart the vehicle.

Obviously it requires modification of the vehicle and I?ve noticed Amazon don?t always use their own vehicles - especially at busy times- but such a system should certainly make things difficult for the opportunist.

Maybe the answer is to separate the two front doors from the rear door(s) on the central locking so the driver can lock the access to the cab whenever he gets out (preventing quick opportunistic drive-aways) while leaving the rear doors open so he can unload the item that he is delivering.

Ideally, insist that the driver locks the van (both the side and the rear doors) whenever he leaves it, including when he's got hold of the item that he is delivering, but this might require some dexterity.

An RFID chip in the driver's pocket, linked to a reader in the van, would also work - once the driver gets out of range, the van locks itself and requires the remote on the key to be operated to unlock the van again. Needs the normal safeguards to prevent the driver being able to lock himself out with the keys inside.

At the very least, the driver should get into the habit of *always* removing the keys from the ignition whenever he gets out, even if for convenience he leaves the doors open. Some thieves might be able to make a duplicate key, but that wouldn't be solved even by locking the doors and removing the keys. But anyone who leaves the vehicle unattended with the keys in is asking for trouble. Surely to god he didn't do that!

I may be paranoid (more about locking myself out than having my car stolen) but I always remove the keys when I get out, unless I need to leave the ignition on - eg to power a car tyre pump while I'm pumping up the tyres. And then I leave a door open to prevent the central locking activating - though I think central locking normally refuses to lock the doors after a time interval if the keys are inside the car. I'm always puzzled how anyone can lock their keys in their car nowadays. It's not like the old days where you can leave the door locks in the locked state (from the outside) while being able to open the doors from the inside to get out.

My car keys remain in my pocket permanently, except when I'm actually sitting inside the car, or briefly when I'm using them to unlock/lock my car, or my house (I keep car and house keys on the same keyring). I don't empty my pockets at night - that way, in an emergency I can put my trousers on and flee the house, same in the knowledge that I can't lock myself out even with a Yale lock. There's never a "where have I put my keys" moment.

On 04/05/2022 22:12, NY wrote: ...

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Simply implement keyless ignition, as on many cars these days. The driver carries a fob that locks the car when the driver gets out of range and unlocks it when the driver gets close. The fob has to be present for the car to start, although there is a variation that allows a limited number of pre-authorised drivers to drive the car using a mobile phone app.