Cash-in-Transit Procedures, Secure Loading and Route Planning
The procedural chain
CIT procedures form a chain: pre-trip briefing and vehicle check → route and schedule → arrival and positioning → securing the perimeter → identity verification and manifest check → controlled loading/unloading → sealing and counting → departure and confirmation → reporting. Each link has a defined responsible person and a defined verification step.
Secure loading
Understand the principles: minimise the time valuables are exposed; keep the vehicle locked and the engine running where procedure allows; one guard handles the cargo while another maintains 360° observation; never turn your back on the street; keep the loading area clear; use the shortest, pre-agreed path; verify seals and counts in a protected position, never in the open. Know the two-person rule and the rule that the vehicle is never left unsecured with cargo aboard.
Route planning
Routes are planned, not improvised: varied and unpredictable, avoiding choke points, predictable times and known risk locations; with alternates and rendezvous points; with communication checks at fixed intervals. Deviations must be authorised and logged. Traffic, roadworks and events are legitimate reasons to change route - but the change is communicated.
Traps
- Assuming speed is safety: rushing loading increases exposure.
- Treating the manifest check as a formality after loading.
- Improvising a route without informing the control room.
- Leaving the vehicle unattended "for a minute."
- Confusing sealing (integrity) with counting (accuracy) - both are required.
Rule of thumb
Exposure time is the enemy: the fewer seconds the cargo is visible and outside the vehicle, the safer the operation.
Worked example
A guard arrives to find a delivery entrance blocked by a van. Correct response: do not unload in the open; reposition to a safe spot, inform the control room, and wait for the area to clear or an authorised alternative to be agreed.