Current Trends in Contractor Equipment Theft

The National Insurance Crime Bureau estimates almost $1 billion worth of contractors’ equipment is stolen each year. Ryan Shepherd, general manager of the National Equipment Registry (NER), discussed current trends in contractor equipment theft in an interview with Claims Journal recently.

Currently, the most popular items stolen are skid steers, backhoes, tractors, and skip and/or wheel loaders.

The items on thieves’ wishlists can vary regionally depending upon the type of equipment found in the area.

“The way the theft would vary regionally is really associated to what type of inventory is local,” said Shepherd.

For example, tractors and agricultural equipment are more frequent targets than construction equipment in the Sacramento, Calif., area known as the vegetable belt.

Shepherd said that contractor’s equipment is particularly vulnerable because there is no title or registration associated with it and thus no paper trail to follow ownership.

“When a thief steals a piece of equipment and they go to subsequently sell it it’s just much easier for them to indicate that they are the owner or come up with a story to say ‘well, this is how I obtained possession of the machine,’” Shepherd said.

Various manufacturers have their own unique identification or product identification number but, overall, there is no conformity within the industry.

“That causes confusion for law enforcement when they’re investigating and causes confusion for a potential buyer when they are looking at buying a piece of equipment,” he said.

He said there are two types of thieves involved in contractors’ equipment fraud. The organized crime ring and the other is the opportunistic criminal. The opportunistic crime usually involves smaller items.

Organized teams scout for certain characteristics of a jobsite or equipment owner, Shepherd said.

“There are groups out there that are actively looking for construction equipment. They’re looking for contractors or equipment owners that are leaving their items in vulnerable areas or leaving them unintended for multiple days at a time,” said the NER manager.

Shepherd said there are certain geographic hot beds. Items stolen in the Southwest tends to head south of the border. Equipment stolen at ports may end up getting exported out of the country.

NER developed IRONWatch, a tracking system that focuses solely on this type of theft and recovery.

The recovery average without a tracking device is about 20 percent over the past five years. It’s much higher when equipment is fitted with a tracking device, like IRONWatch.

Listen to Ryan Shepherd’s podcast to learn more about contractor equipment trends.