When a Hitachi digger worth £20,000 was stolen in County Antrim, its owners thought it was going to be another business loss. Fortunately, the digger was fitted with a stolen vehicle recovery (SVR) device from the market leader, TRACKER, which led police right to the stolen digger within a few hours. TRACKER highlights the need for the construction industry as a whole to put measures in place to protect them from criminals.
In this case, once the stolen Hitachi digger was reported, the PSNI used their vehicles fitted with TRACKER technology to locate the stolen plant machinery. Luckily, for the owners, the TRACKER signal led the police to its location within a few hours, so the stolen piece of plant could be returned to the owners before the loss impacted their business.
“The construction industry loses £400 million every year, with theft the most common crime contributing to those loses,” explains Clive Wain, Head of Police Liaison at TRACKER. “According to the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) 21% of its members experience theft each week.
“Losing a Hitachi digger worth £20,000 is no minor inconvenience for a business, especially for smaller firms. Stolen machinery results in lost work, due to downtime, not to mention increased insurance premiums, if there’s a claim and the cost of replacing the plant. This case shows just how vital fitting a TRACKER device can be in helping police find and recover stolen plant machinery. All too often, businesses are targeted by organised criminals who steal to order. But with the right precautions in place, the construction industry can close the net on the criminals.”
TRACKER is the only stolen vehicle recovery provider offering vehicle tracking systems that are supported by UK police forces nationwide. Unlike GPS only tracking systems, the unique signal emitted by TRACKER devices cannot be jammed by GPS/GSM jammers. TRACKER’s products are Thatcham approved, so construction firms could benefit from a discount on their insurance premiums. TRACKER’s unique technology can locate stolen plant and machinery anywhere, even when they are hidden underground or in a shipping container.