October 14, 2005—LoJack Corporation has released its fourth annual Construction Equipment Theft Report, which documents the growing problem of equipment theft that costs construction companies up to $1 billion per year in lost assets, according to LoJack.
According to the study, which analyzed LoJack stolen vehicle recovery reports for the calendar year 2004, more than $12.8 million in stolen construction equipment assets were tracked and recovered by LoJack in 2004, up 42 percent from 2003.
The 2004 LoJack Construction Equipment Theft Report is based on state theft statistics and equipment recoveries documented by LoJack in 21 states from January to December 2004. This year’s study showed a dramatic rise in the number of professional theft rings and chop shops discovered by law enforcement through tracking stolen construction equipment protected with a LoJack system. In 2004, recoveries of LoJack-equipped construction equipment led police to locate 12 theft rings and seven chop shops, up from three theft rings and two chop shops in 2003.
As in the prior year, the study found that the newer equipment on the job site are most common theft targets because of higher resale value. The types of equipment most frequency stolen are (in order): loaders, skid steers, generators, air compressors, dump trucks, welders and untethered trailers, light utility/work trucks and forklifts. These equipment types represented 81 percent of all construction equipment recoveries documented by LoJack last year. More than 72 percent of the equipment stolen and recovered was five years old or less.
For more information, visit the LoJack Web site.
