Study Gives Insight Into Most Stolen, Recovered Construction Equipment

CANTON, Mass., and IRVINE, Calif. – LoJack’s “2015 Construction Equipment Theft Recovery Report” and infographic highlights the ongoing problem of thieves targeting construction businesses for their high value equipment. The report identifies equipment categories and classes, manufacturers and geographies where theft is most likely to occur. Heavy equipment is the most vital asset of construction businesses.

Contractors and rental fleet owners not only lose valuable assets, but also lose efficiency and miss schedule deadlines when equipment is stolen. The cost of equipment theft can be devastating to the national economy generally, as well as to the profitability of small and large businesses, alike.

According to the study, the top equipment types recovered in 2015 were also those most popular on the jobsite:

• Towables (33 percent) – generators, air compressors, cement mixers and welders
• Wheeled and Tracked Loaders (28 percent) – used to shovel or move material around
• Skid Loaders (20 percent) – specialty vehicles with a range of powered attachments
• Excavators (7 percent) – used to dig and move large materials
• Utility Task Vehicles (6 percent) – used in residential markets, as well as construction

 The following were the top five most stolen and recovered LoJack system-equipped construction equipment manufacturers in 2015:

1. Bobcat (25 percent)
2. John Deere (15 percent)
3. Multiquip (6 percent)
4. Caterpillar (6 percent)
5. CASE (6 percent)

Additional survey insight included:

• In 2015, 64 percent of the equipment stolen was less than five years old
• In 97 percent of theft and recovery cases, equipment was retrieved in the same state

 A 2014 National Insurance Crime Bureau report indicated that up to $1 billion is lost nationwide due to construction equipment theft and only 20 percent of it is ever recovered by law enforcement. Construction equipment thieves are increasingly part of large, organized crime rings that target high value equipment. Unlike vehicle identification numbers, construction equipment does not have standardization in production identification numbers, which makes the assets more difficult to track and recover by law enforcement.

For more details on these statistics and recovery stories, visit: lojack.com.