Heavy Equipment Theft Is On The Rise!

There were more Backhoes, Bobcats, Bulldozers, Cranes and Front End Loaders stolen in 2005 according to the National Crime Information Center. Heavy Equipment is being stolen and taken across the borders to other countries where our insurance companies will not even bother look for them . . . and who pays for this? You do when your insurance costs sky rocket!

The Problem of Heavy Equipment Theft

Insurance companies are getting to the point that they don't even want to insure heavy equipment any longer because it is so easy to steal. Some national surveys have suggested that the total figure could be as much as $2 billion each year in losses and indirect costs, such as rentals, downtime, wasted management time and project overrun penalties. Perhaps the most worrying statistic for owners and insurers is that as little as 10% of stolen heavy equipment are ever recovered.

Why do thieves steal Heavy Equipment?

The answer is simple. The reward for the thief far outweighs the risk taken. Heavy equipment often has little physical machine or site security, is valuable and is easy to sell. The low recovery rate is a clear indication of the low risk for a thief. If an item is recovered, an arrest may not be made. Where an arrest is made, a conviction may not be secured. Even where a conviction is secured, the penalty is likely to be light.

What makes it so easy to steal Heavy Equipment?

The first problem in equipment recovery is the time lapse from theft to theft discovery. A car theft will be discovered hours, if not minutes, after the crime. A Heavy Equipment theft on a Friday night might not be discovered until Monday morning. Equipment owners with larger fleets or multi-site operations may not discover the theft for days, weeks or, in some cases, months. This gives the thief a window of opportunity when any investigation by law enforcement will not find a theft report. This is a particular problem because suspicious activity such as moving equipment at a strange time of day or on ill-suited transport is most likely to occur during this window. The gap between autos and equipment widens further when the availability of data is considered.

THIS IS WHY YOU NEED THE RAVELCO ANTI THEFT DEVICE!

Here are some pretty interesting stories from our big rig and heavy equipment customers:

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Admin

Paul T. - Flagstaff, AZ

In October of 2004, we had two of our Freightliner rigs stolen, the thieves drove them right through our wrought iron fence! That wasn't bad enough but one of our lowboy trailers was ferrying a $545,000 BACK HOE, and the other had a $165,000 DOZER on it. The trucks were found a month later in Mexico, sadly the backhoe and dozer are still missing. After we installed your Ravelco© Anti Theft Device in all 23 of our trucks . . . not one piece of equipment has been stolen! The police said there is an active theft ring in Mexico doing this to heavy equipment in Arizona and New Mexico. Unfortunately, we still have had two theft attempts but they could not steal our trucks. This letter is to just say thanks. We have had anti theft devices installed on our trucks before that just interrupted the key or the starter but they were easily bypassed. Even our own employees could do it. But, since your Ravelco© system disables the engine's computer system it has proven itself effective to us.

James M. - New Iberia, LA

My wife and I drive our Peterbuilt Rig coast to coast weekly. We had our own type of security system installed. It consisted of a fuel cut off that we had to get under the truck to turn it on or off every time we left it unattended. I knew that it was a primitive type of security system but we thought it worked. Someone must have watched us shut it off because when our rig was recovered, the fuel switch was in the on position. I searched the Internet, web site after web site looking for a system that would stop our truck from being stolen again. To be honest yours seemed a little too good to be true. After checking your company out with a few of your car dealers and even the Houston Police Department we decided on the Ravelco© system. Last week in Bisbee, Arizona, again someone attempted to steal our truck and trailer but the Ravelco© stopped it. Is your company looking for a good salesman to sell to the trucking business? I have many connections, and I am not kidding!

Tommy C. - Kansas City, MO

Approximately 4 months ago, we contacted your company and purchased only 4 of your Ravelco© Anti Theft Systems for our KENWORTH trucks. When they arrived the owner looked at them and said for us to install and test them on the older trucks only, because to be honest with you they didn't look like much in the box. Boy, were we surprised!, after following your installation instructions our own shop mechanic couldn't start the KENWORTH truck. When our owner saw this, we immediately ordered 54 more Ravelco© systems. I know this letter is short and sweet but I just wanted to say thanks for keeping our trucks safe and to give us the comfort of knowing our trucks will be there exactly where we parked them.