NICB: Heavy Equipment Thefts Rise by Modest 1% from 2013

In 2014, a total of 11,625 heavy equipment thefts were reported to law enforcement—an increase of 1.2 percent from the 11,486 reported in 2013, according to a new report published by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

The report on heavy equipment thefts in 2014, which was co-produced with the National Equipment Register (NER, examines heavy equipment theft data submitted by law enforcement to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and profiles that data according to theft state, theft city, theft month, equipment manufacturer, equipment style (type) and year of manufacture. The report also examines heavy equipment recoveries in 2014 based on those same criteria.

Texas ranked number one in 2014 with 1,650 reported thefts. In second place was North Carolina with 918 thefts followed by Florida in third with 915 thefts. In fourth place was South Carolina with 660 thefts and Georgia is fifth with 647. The top five cities with the most thefts were Houston, Texas (201); Miami, Fla. (105); San Antonio, Texas (83); Oklahoma City, Okla. (83); and Las Vegas, Nev. (73).

The three most stolen heavy equipment items in 2014 were:

1. Mowers (riding or garden tractor: 5,051)
2. Loaders (skid steer, wheeled: 1,907)
3. Tractors (wheeled or tracked: 1,475)

Heavy equipment manufactured by John Deere was the number one theft target in 2014 followed in order by Kubota Tractor Corp., Bobcat, Caterpillar and Toro.

As for recoveries, only 23 percent of heavy equipment stolen in 2014 was found, making it a costly crime for insurance companies, equipment owners and rental agencies.

“Having the support and cooperation of the manufacturers is critical to the efforts to combat this kind of theft,” said NICB President and CEO Joe Wehrle. “In an effort to increase the recovery rate, we encourage the manufacturers to share information and work with us to prevent theft and recover stolen equipment.”

Source: NICB