ForConstructionPros.com

System Recovers Nearly $300,000 in Stolen Goods

One of LoJack's customers is a multi-faceted contracting company within the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut Tri-State area that serves businesses and governmental agencies nationwide. The company has been in operation for more than 75 years, and takes enormous pride in its dedication to serving its customers in a timely and cost-effective manner. As such, it did not want construction theft to impact its high standards of customer service in any way. However, the theft issue for this organization was very real.

"Our company was experiencing problems with equipment and vehicle theft and needed protection," says the company's vice president of operations, who is a 35-year veteran with the organization. "A minimum of six trucks were being stolen each year, resulting in thousands of dollars in lost revenue."

The contractor realized it needed a way to protect its assets. Luckily, it was a client of St. Paul Travelers, one of the largest and longest-tenured construction underwriters in the United States. St. Paul Travelers was very familiar with the theft problem and had created a plan to help its customers deal with this growing issue. The plan was to first find a technology solution designed to recover insured equipment if stolen, since mere theft protection alone had proven unsuccessful in thwarting thieves. To accomplish this, St. Paul Travelers teamed with LoJack to offer LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery Systems to its policyholders.

The contractor made a strategic decision to purchase the LoJack systems through St. Paul Travelers. According to the vice president of operations, the system has delivered on its promise to address equipment theft. Consider the following examples:

• In June 2005, a Caterpillar dozer, valued at more than $100,000, was stolen from a jobsite near Newark airport in New Jersey. The contractor immediately notified the Newark police, which entered information on the stolen unit into the National Crime Computer. The software in the crime computer matched the vehicle identification number to the LoJack serial number, which instantly activated the Stolen Vehicle Recovery System concealed within the machine. The transponder then began emitting a silent radio signal that could be picked up by LoJack Police Tracking Computers installed in police vehicles and aircraft. Within five hours, the police tracked the signal to a building in Elizabeth, NJ, where the equipment had been concealed. The police gained entry into the building and arrested two suspects for possession of the unit.
• A month after the dozer was recovered, the company discovered an Ingersoll Rand generator was missing from another site in Newark. Approximately 10 hours after the equipment was reported missing, the police used the Police Tracking Computer to locate and recover the generator, which had been hidden behind a building under a tarp in Paterson, NJ. Evidence found at the location indicated the thieves planned to ship it to the Dominican Republic.
• In another instance, one of the contractor's trucks was stolen. Law enforcement tracked and recovered it at a chop shop in a matter of an hour. In that case, the police arrested three thieves.

Since it first installed the system, the contractor has recovered eight pieces of equipment, including vans, dump trucks, air compressors, backhoe-loaders, dozers and generators, valued at approximately $287,000. "We have a very high recovery rate with LoJack, so we use the system as standard procedure. If we buy a piece of equipment or vehicle and it can be equipped with LoJack, then we do it," says the vice president of operations.