Across Europe, there has been a rise in diesel thefts from trucks

Translated from Polish using artificial intelligence — DeepL

Data from several European countries shows a clear trend. Thefts of diesel from trucks, as well as from construction machinery, are on the rise as fuel prices increase.

In Germany, in the Ludwigsburg region (Baden-Württemberg), thefts totalling over 3,000 litres of diesel were recorded in a short period, and in individual cases hundreds of litres of fuel are disappearing from parked lorries and machinery.

According to the Criminal Investigation Department in Saxony-Anhalt, the damage caused by diesel thefts in March amounted to around €189,000. This was almost three times more than in February, when the figure stood at around €65,000.

A similar phenomenon is observed in Poland and neighbouring countries – the police point out that vehicles left in unguarded car parks and on construction sites are particularly at risk, where perpetrators operate at night, taking advantage of poor lighting and a lack of supervision.

In many cases, the losses do not end with the fuel itself. There is also damage to tanks, leaks and operational downtime, which generate additional costs for transport companies.

Experts and hauliers point out that fuel theft is having increasingly serious financial consequences. With high diesel prices, a single loss of several hundred litres means not only an operational loss but often also a disruption to cash flow. Following the fuel price rises in March and April, transport companies’ losses are rising dramatically. In extreme cases, repeated incidents can lead to a company losing its profitability or even going bankrupt.

Source: trans.info