Your Guide to Security Seals

Are you taking a pro-active approach to reducing theft from loaded vehicles? There are many different security solutions from simple single use, disposable seals through to electronic, reusable seals that generate their own random numbers and can interface with back office IT systems. Barrier seals The two commonly used versions include Bolt Seals that have steel pins and bushes with hot foil or directly laser etched serial number preventing the removal and substitution of component parts. Cable Seals have steel, aluminium or plastic bodies and a metal locking mechanism that clamps onto a twisted steel cable, preventing it from being withdrawn. Plastic bodied seals can have the serial number and markings moulded-in. Other versions include lighter duty Padlock Seals with fixed hasp lengths offering the functionality of a keyless padlock. The seals are numbered for audit purposes with a steel hasp and locking mechanism, normally housed within a plastic body. Metal Strip Seals provide some of the functionality of a barrier seal being hard to open by hand and providing some tamper evident features to prevent gluing. Plastic Seals Fixed length seals are most suitable for use on door latches of trailers and fixed bodied vehicles which tend to have considerable movement and have tamper evident features such as a break point directly outside the locking housing. Variable length seals only properly secured when pulled tight but are not designed for vehicle door latches as they are unlikely to withstand the stress of bouncing along the road over speed humps and potholes without breaking. Electronic Seals Reusable electronic security seals offer a “fit and forget” way of sealing trailer doors, generating a new random number with each sealing event. The more sophisticated products provide an audit trail of seal number and time and date of when they are opened or closed. The Unisto Manta Seal stores data on the last 100 events and can be interrogated using the purpose-made handheld SealTrak, providing a detailed analysis of trailer door openings. Contact Unisto today for independent, unbiased advice on protecting your loads.

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