Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Industry "Indifferent" to Plant Theft Claims TER
The National Plant and Equipment Register (TER) has accused insurers, owners and users of construction equipment of being "institutionally indifferent to plant theft".
South and south-east England accounted for almost 20% of stolen items, with Thames Valley alone recording 170 thefts.TER's manager Tim Purbrick identified a "vicious circle", with poor machine protection and low site security allowing plant to be taken.
He said second-hand buyers are only interested in the machine's condition, while insurers have few if any records of the items they cover."With plant hire companies placing multi-machine orders, the insurance often pays out more for a stolen item than the original purchase price," said Purbrick."The police are trying hard, but their priorities are set by the Home Office and that doesn't include plant theft," he added.Purbrick expects the UK's economic downturn will result in more fraudulent claims, with dishonest owners selling machines abroad before reporting them as stolen.
He also expects more stolen machines to end up in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
South and south-east England accounted for almost 20% of stolen items, with Thames Valley alone recording 170 thefts.TER's manager Tim Purbrick identified a "vicious circle", with poor machine protection and low site security allowing plant to be taken.
He said second-hand buyers are only interested in the machine's condition, while insurers have few if any records of the items they cover."With plant hire companies placing multi-machine orders, the insurance often pays out more for a stolen item than the original purchase price," said Purbrick."The police are trying hard, but their priorities are set by the Home Office and that doesn't include plant theft," he added.Purbrick expects the UK's economic downturn will result in more fraudulent claims, with dishonest owners selling machines abroad before reporting them as stolen.
He also expects more stolen machines to end up in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
A-Plant tracks stolen skid steer to Sharjah
15:00 09 Sep 2008 By Colin Sowman - Contract JournalA-Plant has traced a JCB skid steer loader stolen from the UK to Sharjah in the Middle East using its A-Trak system and positively identified it using Cesar.
Enigma, which hosts A-Plant’s A-Trak system, followed the satellite reports from the stolen skid-steer’s tracking devices showing the machine left Southampton docks nine days after it was stolen.Having contacted the docks it was evident the machine was bound for Gibraltar and on to Oman, where it was unloaded. Once unloaded, Enigma pinpointed the machine’s final location in the neighbouring UAE state of Sharjah.
An undercover visit was arranged through a joint venture partner in Dubai who paid a deposit to ensure the machine wasn’t moved while Interpol completed the necessary paper work for its recovery.
Enigma chief executive Ian Keam-George travelled to Dubai with Data Tag scanning equipment and identified the machine by the hidden transponders because the UPN plate had been removed.
Three days later the Sharjah police arrested two suspects and ceased the skid steer and a generator stolen from another plant hire company in the Manchester area.
Enigma, which hosts A-Plant’s A-Trak system, followed the satellite reports from the stolen skid-steer’s tracking devices showing the machine left Southampton docks nine days after it was stolen.Having contacted the docks it was evident the machine was bound for Gibraltar and on to Oman, where it was unloaded. Once unloaded, Enigma pinpointed the machine’s final location in the neighbouring UAE state of Sharjah.
An undercover visit was arranged through a joint venture partner in Dubai who paid a deposit to ensure the machine wasn’t moved while Interpol completed the necessary paper work for its recovery.
Enigma chief executive Ian Keam-George travelled to Dubai with Data Tag scanning equipment and identified the machine by the hidden transponders because the UPN plate had been removed.
Three days later the Sharjah police arrested two suspects and ceased the skid steer and a generator stolen from another plant hire company in the Manchester area.
A-Plant recovers Machine in Sharjah - Response by the Evangelist
THE IRISH ENTEREPENUER & TOYOTA CAR DISTRIBUTOR THE LATE TIM MAHONY ONCE SAID TO HIS EXTENSIVE SALES FORCE – “WHEN U HAVE HAD THE EXPERIENCES I HAVE HAD WITH THE PROFESSIONAL BANKERS & LAWYERS CLASSES, - IT IS REFRESHING TO LOOK INTO THE EYES OF A USED CAR SALESMAN!”
We are all given to exageration and some get more carried away than others!The Home Office & Police Statistics confirm that less than 5% of all stolen plant is recovered. This means that After-Theft Tracking & Location Systems are not recovering plant.
That’s why Kosran offer an anti-theft deterrent, to stop plant being stolen in the 1st place … anti-theft versus after-theft recovery – its a no brainer. But the less than 5% statistics makes some tracker sales people very nervous for example; A-Plant & their Enigma Tracker constantly claim to have bucked the UK trend and claim they have a 98% recovery rate... Well that could be 97% or 99% the exact stat has slipped my mind but the point is that there is an unbelievable record & achievement against the national average.
Some lateral thinkers might say it is... not believable.But there are no lengths to which A-Plant & Enigma will not go to - to convince you of this for example 12 days ago an A-Plant skid steer was stolen in the UK and found in Sharjah.... Where? Sharjah (Middle East)
The value of the machine was probably £10,000
But wait for it... Ian Keam George, the Chief Executive of Enigma was despatched by A-Plant with a CESAR scanner and left his office in Benfleet, Essex and travelled with due haste to Sharjah with scanning equipment to identify the machine... Now if that doesn't convince you of the lengths to which A-Plant & Enigma will go to convince you that they recover 97, 98 or 99% of stolen plant - maybe its 100% now? what will?
But who will pay the bill to (1) Ship the machine back to the UK & (2) pay Ian's 3-4day round trip for the 2 min ID job?
I think they should say to hell with the expense, don't flog the machine off locally again to the guy who bought the machine in Sharjah but take it back to the UK and exhibit it at the Civils show in London in November - So you can see & experience a recovered machine for yourself - now wouldn't that be a site for sore eyes?!
The Envangelist
We are all given to exageration and some get more carried away than others!The Home Office & Police Statistics confirm that less than 5% of all stolen plant is recovered. This means that After-Theft Tracking & Location Systems are not recovering plant.
That’s why Kosran offer an anti-theft deterrent, to stop plant being stolen in the 1st place … anti-theft versus after-theft recovery – its a no brainer. But the less than 5% statistics makes some tracker sales people very nervous for example; A-Plant & their Enigma Tracker constantly claim to have bucked the UK trend and claim they have a 98% recovery rate... Well that could be 97% or 99% the exact stat has slipped my mind but the point is that there is an unbelievable record & achievement against the national average.
Some lateral thinkers might say it is... not believable.But there are no lengths to which A-Plant & Enigma will not go to - to convince you of this for example 12 days ago an A-Plant skid steer was stolen in the UK and found in Sharjah.... Where? Sharjah (Middle East)
The value of the machine was probably £10,000
But wait for it... Ian Keam George, the Chief Executive of Enigma was despatched by A-Plant with a CESAR scanner and left his office in Benfleet, Essex and travelled with due haste to Sharjah with scanning equipment to identify the machine... Now if that doesn't convince you of the lengths to which A-Plant & Enigma will go to convince you that they recover 97, 98 or 99% of stolen plant - maybe its 100% now? what will?
But who will pay the bill to (1) Ship the machine back to the UK & (2) pay Ian's 3-4day round trip for the 2 min ID job?
I think they should say to hell with the expense, don't flog the machine off locally again to the guy who bought the machine in Sharjah but take it back to the UK and exhibit it at the Civils show in London in November - So you can see & experience a recovered machine for yourself - now wouldn't that be a site for sore eyes?!
The Envangelist
Kosran Saves EPS Hire Machines
STOLEN PLANT
On Saturday 9th March thieves broke into a secure compound at E.P.S. Hire Centres, Mytholmroyd depot. They were confronted with 2 mini excavators, a 1-ton and 1.6-ton, both equipped with KOSRAN ECV Plant Immobilisers. Fortunately they were unable to start these machines, however, using scaffolding planks in the yard they managed to move the 1-ton excavator enough to get behind it. Behind it were parked 2 Kubota U10 1-ton excavators, a Takeuchi TB016 excavator and a Thwaites 1-ton hi-tip dumper. All 4 were loaded on their vehicles and several other machines were damaged in the process.
I received a ‘phone call on Sunday about 11am to inform me that the gate was open and damaged but at the time I was enjoying the hospitality of the Sussex branch of CMPE. I made a call to my staff back at home who attended the site to secure it and inform the police. To my amazement the police were there within an hour. 2 of the excavators were equipped with ‘SATTRACK’ plant tracking units. We were unable to track them because by this time at least 12 hours had elapsed and they had already been found and disabled. We were unable to contact ‘SATTRACK’ as their emergency number was an answering machine. However, on Monday morning I did get an answer and they managed to ascertain the tracker had triggered a signal in the Seacroft area of Leeds at 10.10pm on Saturday night and this was conferred to the police at 10am on Monday.
At 10.30 am we had a call from the police who had spotted a Takeuchi excavator on a trailer in the Leeds area and when checking the van they found the dumper inside. The van and trailer were also stolen. During further investigations in the area by Jason and myself, we found a roll bar off one of the Kubota excavators, again, we contacted the Leeds police who gave us support within 10 minutes to enter the Gypsy site.
We recovered further panels off the Kubota and panels off one of our Benford rollers, which had been stolen 4 months earlier. On this occasion it appears that our plant tracking system is limited to only the first few hours after theft. But KOSRAN ECV stops them going in the first place.
Thanks have to go to the police who, on this occasion, moved very quickly to cut our losses to a minimum. As a company we believe if KOSRAN ECV had been fitted to all machines losses would have been limited to only damaged gates.
David Fielden
MD E.P.S. Hire Centre Limited
Member YORKSHIRE CMPE
On Saturday 9th March thieves broke into a secure compound at E.P.S. Hire Centres, Mytholmroyd depot. They were confronted with 2 mini excavators, a 1-ton and 1.6-ton, both equipped with KOSRAN ECV Plant Immobilisers. Fortunately they were unable to start these machines, however, using scaffolding planks in the yard they managed to move the 1-ton excavator enough to get behind it. Behind it were parked 2 Kubota U10 1-ton excavators, a Takeuchi TB016 excavator and a Thwaites 1-ton hi-tip dumper. All 4 were loaded on their vehicles and several other machines were damaged in the process.
I received a ‘phone call on Sunday about 11am to inform me that the gate was open and damaged but at the time I was enjoying the hospitality of the Sussex branch of CMPE. I made a call to my staff back at home who attended the site to secure it and inform the police. To my amazement the police were there within an hour. 2 of the excavators were equipped with ‘SATTRACK’ plant tracking units. We were unable to track them because by this time at least 12 hours had elapsed and they had already been found and disabled. We were unable to contact ‘SATTRACK’ as their emergency number was an answering machine. However, on Monday morning I did get an answer and they managed to ascertain the tracker had triggered a signal in the Seacroft area of Leeds at 10.10pm on Saturday night and this was conferred to the police at 10am on Monday.
At 10.30 am we had a call from the police who had spotted a Takeuchi excavator on a trailer in the Leeds area and when checking the van they found the dumper inside. The van and trailer were also stolen. During further investigations in the area by Jason and myself, we found a roll bar off one of the Kubota excavators, again, we contacted the Leeds police who gave us support within 10 minutes to enter the Gypsy site.
We recovered further panels off the Kubota and panels off one of our Benford rollers, which had been stolen 4 months earlier. On this occasion it appears that our plant tracking system is limited to only the first few hours after theft. But KOSRAN ECV stops them going in the first place.
Thanks have to go to the police who, on this occasion, moved very quickly to cut our losses to a minimum. As a company we believe if KOSRAN ECV had been fitted to all machines losses would have been limited to only damaged gates.
David Fielden
MD E.P.S. Hire Centre Limited
Member YORKSHIRE CMPE
Friday, September 19, 2008
Plant Hire companies don't want to help theft victims
It's Official DC Ian Elliott of the "Stolen Plant Unit" at the Met has confirmed what everyone knows "the majority of Plant Hire Companies are using plant theft to upgrade fleets and profiteer at the expense of their contractor customers. Good times are ahead for hire companies in recession with plant theft up 100% in July.
Donnelly & Bailey got screwed on the hire charges and all contractors get screwed on residual values. Hire Companies buy 80% of plant and get a minimum 20% discount + capital allowances. Contractors hire in 80% but pay list price to owners when stolen.
The owner paid £26.9k for the CAT 304.5; breaker £3.4k, trailer £2.5k. Total £32.8k. Donnelly & Bailey paid over £38k for used equipment. £45.5k was the real cost paid to Ray Cross's profits because statistics prove every theft costs the contractor over £7.5k in downtime, disruption to business, crosshire etc. and it happens every day!
Tarmac & Ringway are excluded from all of this because they refuse to hire machines not secured by the Thatcham Cat P2 Certified Kosran ECV Plant Immobilisation System. This week Kosran saved two Ringway machines a JCB 530-70 and a TB016 Takeuchi both hired from GE Plant Hire.
Manufacturers' factory fitted electronic immobilisers as supplied by JCB; Kubota & Manitou will not stop plant being stolen.
Over 150 hire companies today put their customers at the heart of their business and supply 15,000 Kosran secured machines nationwide.
Call us for your nearest depot.
For a demonstration at your depot Call: 0870 787 5687. Or visit www.kosran.com.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Welcome to the new Kosran blog
Welcome to the new Kosran blog where the Kosran team will be bringing you news from Kosran and from across the industry.
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