Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Livestream CCTV Touted as Answer to Illegal Stowaways as Road Haulage Operators Fined

Heavy Penalties for Hauliers Could Mean Specialist Feed May Be the Solution
Shipping News Feature
UK – EUROPE – Even though the closing of ‘the Jungle’ migrant camp outside of Calais in France has helped improve security for freight vehicle drivers on the UK – Continental routes, the issue of illegal stowaways sneaking onto vehicles is still very much a serious problem for drivers and freight companies who face the prospect of strict fines if they are found to have brought migrants into the country. Indeed, one driver was fined £19,500 by UK border force in 2015, despite the fact that he was the one who alerted police after finding 13 people in his vehicle. Such punishments can bankrupt an owner driver or a small road haulage operator. Now one technology company is offering a possible solution to help in securing lorries and vans from being infiltrated by illegal stowaways.

Uxbridge based CriticalStreaming.com offers a live CCTV streaming service that it believes is the best means to tackle the issue. High quality live feeds can be transmitted over low bandwidth, streaming into a control room or to a mobile phone and specific actions can also be triggered remotely. This allows locking a door, alerting the driver and responding to an alarm, even if the vehicle itself is unattended. Iain Janes CEO of CriticalStreaming said:

“The nettle of clandestine entry to the UK needs to be grasped and CCTV is the way to do it. CCTV in transport is nothing new, but a system allowing you to see and respond in real time is. Live streaming takes pressure off drivers as proof by providing the proof for employer and authorities that all the checks to avoid a fine have been carried out.”

CriticalStreaming has worked with Vemotion, which specialises in compression and transmission of quality live video over wireless and wired networks, to develop a live streaming solution that has been specifically designed to service the complex requirements of the transport and logistics industries. Applications include haulage; cash in transit; bus and coach; rail and tram travel. They claim the system supplied provides high quality live video access to both on-board CCTV cameras and recorded data, via the mobile phone network. Most importantly, this connectivity includes the ever present GPRS network that is often the only available network in less densely populated areas both in the UK and in Europe.

In the past three years, 6,494 people were found in vehicles entering the UK, but this of course is only the numbers actually apprehended, the true figure of illegal entrants is likely to be far higher. These numbers translate into human misery for the victims of criminal people smugglers whilst inattentive hauliers face huge fines for failing to spot stowaways. Janes concluded:

“CriticalStreaming can be the part of the solution to the Calais conundrum. Next generation technology can help prevent unnecessarily fines and, more importantly, put an end to the tragic death of desperate migrants. Modern CCTV does not just record incidents for future viewing, it allows direct action as an incident unfolds and potentially saves money, worry and people’s lives.”