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Understanding the root cause of a truck crash requires more than understanding speed of travel, weather conditions, traffic conditions and driver or roadway conditions. While understanding these elements are essential to determine fault, there are several internal documents that must be examined to determine whether the organization deliberately placed the lives of their employees and the public at risk. Examination of documents such as training records and fleet maintenance will also help to discover the root cause of the crash which must be understood if a reoccurrence is to be prevented. There are other internal operating reports that must be evaluating to assess the root cause of a crash.
It is the author’s opinion that the majority of crashes result when companies fail to balance risk with profit. Many companies are placing profit ahead of adequate risk management processes which include: an effective hiring process, adequate training programs and proper fleet maintenance.
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 Root Causes of Truck Crashes
During my 26 years career in the cash-in-transit industry, I was responsible for overseeing and reviewing numerous theft reports. Investigations in the cash-in-transit industry can be complex due to the numerous people and organizations that touch the funds which are transported, stored, or processed.
When tamper evident plastic deposit bags replaced the cloth bag and lead seal nearly two decades ago, I was optimistic that the introduction of these bags would help catch thieves and reduce losses. I was disappointed to discover that many of these bags could be compromised without leaving obvious indication of tampering. We also learned that many of these bags would burst open during routine handling.
Poorly designed bags serve only to make an already complex investigation even longer and more complex. I recently tested several bags (April 2010) from different companies only to find that these security bags could still be accessed and resealed without reflecting a compromise to the bag.
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 Tamper Evident Plastic Deposit Bags
Cash-in-Transit Carriers like all smart businesses look for ways to improve profits. However, smart armored carrier managers don’t shortcut training to increase profit knowing that short-term profit gains from hours saved mean little if a serious event, such as a truck crash occurs.
Since carrier drivers and guards are largely unsupervised, training is crucial to ensure that these front line team members are versed in policies, procedures and organizational objectives prior to being assigned a route or other positions. They must understand and support the reasoning behind polices designed to protect them or when they are on their own, they may be less likely to comply.
I was fortunate to have worked for a manager who understood the value of training and instilled this value in me when I started in the industry nearly 3 decades ago. Unfortunately in a time where profit and greed tend to overrule our better judgment, training is an area that is sometimes viewed as expendable. Training is also eliminated or reduced during times of low unemployment when lower paying jobs are readily available. On a positive note with the economic downturn in the later part of 2008, staffing levels are no longer critical in the armored car business.
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 Training is Critical for Armored Car Businesses
Jim McGuffey, CPP provides consultation for several investment firms, sharing his insight into the cash-in-transit industry with their clients. Following are a few areas that he considers important in the evaluation of a carrier to determine if the carrier is capable of sustaining long-term profit: People, Profit, Sales, Training, Risk, Fleet Management, Customer Service, Customer Contracts, Technology and Cash Management Services.
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People: Many front-line employees responsible for handling large amounts of money are paid low wages and employee turn-over tends to run high in this industry. However, I am told by industry contacts that turnover started to stabilize in the latter part of 2008 due to lack of jobs. From my experience, when turn-over is low, there are substantial improvements in customer service, reduction in injuries and other risk issues. There are also substantial expense reductions in recruiting and training since employees tend to remain in their current positions. These savings can be huge in markets where salaries tend to be higher and unemployment on the low side.
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 Cash-in-Transit Insight for Investors
This article is intended as a basic over view of the cash-in-transit industry for customers, investors, security managers and others interested in the products and services provided by the cash-in-transit industry as well as some of the risks and challenges facing the industry.
The cash-in-transit industry which has been known for decades as the armored car business is now often referred to as a cash management business. The exact number of carriers operating in the U.S. constantly changes but it is estimated to be 55 to 65 carriers, with several large carriers dominating the majority of US markets, transporting, storing, processing and managing billions of dollars.
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The U.S. economy and markets depend on the global distribution and management of these funds. Most carriers in the armored car industry provide a total cash management solution for their customers. Customers consist largely of financial and retail businesses but also include government agencies and any business requiring the protection, storage, distribution and management of valuables.
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As recently as 15 years ago, upon entering an armored car facility you would have observed a garage area that consumed a substantial amount of space utilized for parking trucks. The next largest space utilized was for administrative and vaulting functions, with the smallest amount of space being used for currency and coin processing operations. Space allocation would also vary depending on the climate as more space was allocated in colder climates for inside parking.
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This paper is a basic overview of the security risk assessment process. It reflects a process that the author utilizes when requested to assist in the resolution of security incidents or security requests. An example of a security request is the selection of CCTV equipment or an alarm system; a security incident might involve an assault or theft. The author has turned down work because a customer felt rushed to install a security system without first conducting a security risk assessment.
Funds are sometimes spent on unnecessary security equipment or a project that might have been completed with less cost had more research occurred, while in other cases spending a little more money on a comprehensive integrated security system would eliminate man-hours and reduce labor cost significantly. An experienced security manager or consultant understands the importance of performing a security risk assessment prior to changing a security system or process.
A security program’s objectives are to deter, delay, detect, deny, respond to and or recover from reasonably foreseeable events. Understanding security problems that a company is experiencing will help meet these objectives. This is done by assessing threats that could impact assets, the probability of these threats becoming loss events and the impact on assets should the loss event occur.
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