Best Practices for Preventing Construction Equipment Theft Rastrac Team | Aug 5, 2021 2:14:57 PM

Preventing construction theft is a top priority for many construction companies; missing valuable equipment can prove to be especially expensive and can result in costly downtime as well. 

Annual estimates of the cost of equipment theft vary from about $300 million to $1 billion, with most estimates in the range of $400 million. The month with the highest amount of construction theft is August – as it is the peak time of year for construction projects. Since the month just started, it’s especially important to review your construction site security protocols and take precautions to prevent construction equipment theft!

Quick Links:

• How Common is Construction Equipment Theft?
• Common Forms of Construction Site Theft
• Best Practices for Preventing Construction Equipment Theft
• How Can GPS Asset Tracking Prevent Theft?
• Prevent Construction Equipment Theft with Rastrac's Asset Tracking Systems

How Common is Construction Equipment Theft?

The frequency of equipment theft is due to several factors, including a lack of surveillance on job sites, the simple process of selling stolen parts, and a relatively low chance of being caught.

The top ten states for equipment theft in 2016 were:

1. Texas with 2,375 thefts
2. North Carolina with 796 thefts
3. Florida with 763 thefts
4. California with 694 thefts
5. Georgia with 577 thefts
6. South Carolina with 512 thefts
7. Tennessee with 449 thefts
8. Oklahoma with 445 thefts
9. Arkansas with 362 thefts
10. Alabama with 338 thefts

These top 10 states on the list accounted for 63% of all theft in the USA. Even if you don’t operate out of one of these high-risk states, your construction site will still tremendously benefit from a fortified security posture.

Common Forms of Construction Site Theft

The type of construction site theft you could experience at your construction site, of course, depends on what you’re building and your site’s location. You should be aware of what thieves are looking to steal and take the necessary precautions to prevent it.

Large Appliances

Appliances that are sometimes left inside during construction could become theft targets. You’ll want to monitor residential construction sites, in particular, because the last thing you want is for your clients’ appliances to go missing.

Heavy Equipment

Stealing tractors and bulldozers sounds complicated, but a motivated thief can quickly get away with them, particularly if the machine has power. The most common stolen construction vehicles or equipment are items that are valuable yet still easy to move.

Construction Tools 

It makes sense that small tools would frequently go missing because it doesn’t take much to steal them. A thief can quickly shove these items in their pocket and walk off before anyone notices. It’s also unlikely that you’ll realize a few tools are missing right away.

Best Practices for Preventing Construction Equipment Theft

There is no single solution to keeping your construction site safe from criminals. The following steps are widely recommended and work together to provide increasingly effective levels of protection:

Review Your Current Security Plan

Before you can know what to change or how to implement new security measures, you need to have a starting point. Review the policies in place for preventing the theft of your construction equipment, maintaining records, and proper employee training around handling and storing equipment so you can find any gaps in the security posture of your site along the way.

Increase Lighting During Off-Hours

It’s easy for thieves to break in and take off with equipment or tools when there’s minimal lighting to monitor your site. Increased lighting during off-hours at your construction site will not only give the illusion that people are there working - which detracts criminals - but it will also help you keep an eye on your property. 

Keep Thorough Records

You should have detailed records of every piece of equipment you’re using on the job site. This step might not stop trespassers from stealing anything, but it could cause dishonest employees to pause before taking your equipment. Maintaining records of serial numbers on all equipment and heavy machinery also make it easier to file a police report and more challenging for the thief to sell the items later.

It’s furthermore wise to keep photo files of everything in your fleet for identification purposes in case anything is ever stolen. As anyone who has dealt with law enforcement on the recovery of stolen equipment will know, it’s crucial to have the nomenclature of the missing item on hand so the National Insurance Crime Bureau can track it down. The lack of this vital info in so many equipment theft cases is the reason why recovery rates are so low.

Practice Effective Inventory Management

Be sure that your employees are returning tools where they belong and are properly parking heavy machinery in designated areas on your construction site. This further compounds the benefits of keeping good records by practicing effective inventory management. 

Secure Your Perimeter

Installing a fence around your construction sites creates an additional level of security that can keep your equipment safe. These fences won’t keep absolutely everyone away from the property, but they act as a deterrent and make it more challenging to walk away with construction supplies

Install GPS Asset Tracking Systems 

In addition to site security, steps can be taken to better protect each individual piece of equipment. This can be done with the activation of wheel locks, shut-off systems, battery switches, ignition locks, and other hidden deactivation devices. Whenever a given piece of machinery won’t be in use, consider removing its circuit breakers and fuses. When a vehicle is stolen, it’s much likelier to be found when linked to a GPS tracking system, which would give police the ability to pinpoint the vehicle’s whereabouts.

How Can GPS Asset Tracking Prevent Theft?

Make use of new technologies for GPS-based tracking of heavy equipment and possible automatic shutdown of heavy equipment. GPS technology can provide real-time information about the location of plant machinery – crucial data if the equipment should go missing. It’s possible to set up a GPS geofencing system that will send you texts or emails the moment when a piece of equipment moves off the job site. Or, it can also alert you if the engine of the equipment is started up outside of work hours. This can be a very powerful way to avoid theft of your construction fleet.

Prevent Construction Equipment Theft with Rastrac's Asset Tracking Systems

GPS tracking systems aren’t just for managing fleet vehicles anymore. These days, companies in all industries use telematics systems for many kinds of applications. From heavy construction equipment to portable generators, refrigerated trailers to emergency medical equipment and supplies, asset tracking systems can be a crucial resource for optimizing asset utilization and protecting a business’ equipment investments.

At Rastrac, we offer an array of services and tools to meet the needs of customers in numerous industries. Whether you need to track trailers in the oil and gas industry, heavy equipment rentals, or the current location of maintenance/service vehicles, there’s a specialized Rastrac solution that can help!