9 Vehicle Theft Prevention Tips Every Company Should Follow Rastrac Team | Mar 19, 2020 1:15:00 PM

Motor vehicle theft is a major concern for everyone. For individuals who need their cars to get to work and organizations that need trucks, construction equipment, and other vehicular assets to meet their goals, vehicle theft prevention is extremely important.

Stolen vehicles can be a major pain for fleet management professionals, as it leads to high replacement costs, delays in service, and possible increases to insurance premiums. While no solution will completely eliminate the risk of your fleet vehicles being stolen, there are some simple vehicle theft prevention tips that you can follow to minimize your risk.

Vehicle Theft Statistics You Should Know

Before starting a vehicle theft prevention program, it helps to have a good idea of what your specific risks are. To give you an idea of the risks posed by vehicle theft, here are some statistics that you should know:

• $6 Billion. According to data from the FBI, the estimated value of stolen motor vehicles in the U.S. approached $6 billion in 2017 alone.
• 534,010. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) states that there were 534,010 cases of motor vehicle theft in 2018. That equals more than one vehicle stolen every minute (there are 525,600 minutes in a year).
• Cargo Theft. Thieves aren’t always after vehicle assets. Cargo assets are also at risk. According to data cited by Truckinginfo.com, 150 cargo thefts occurred in Q2 2019, with a total value of $22.9 million—though this was a 14% decrease from Q2 2018. Food and beverage products, which are easy to move, are amongst the biggest cargo theft targets.
• The Top 10 States for Motor Vehicle Theft. According to data cited by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the top 10 states for most vehicles stolen (in 2017) are:
  • California
  • Texas
  • Florida
  • Washington
  • Illinois
  • Georgia
  • Colorado
  • Missouri
  • Ohio
  • Arizona

Considering that a motor vehicle is stolen every minute, and the millions of dollars that motor vehicle and cargo theft can cost, vehicle theft prevention should be a top priority for all kinds of organizations. It’s a key part of your vehicle asset management strategy.

Top 9 Vehicle Theft Prevention Tips

So, how can you prevent your vehicular assets and cargo from being stolen? Here are a few theft prevention tips that should help:

1. Keep Motor Pools/Parking Lots Secure. Few things are as embarrassing as having a big rig stolen right out of your own parking lot or motor pool. So, it’s important to have adequate security to ensure vehicle safety while they’re on your lot: fences, surveillance, and onsite security personnel to deter break-in attempts can help.
2. Have Drivers Lock Vehicle Doors. Many vehicle theft attempts are crimes of opportunity—the criminal sees an unattended vehicle, checks the door, and finds it unlocked. Locking vehicle doors can help to deter casual theft attempts—and protect any valuable assets contained in the vehicle.
3. Ensure Drivers NEVER Leave Keys in the Vehicle’s Cab. Another common mistake that drivers make is leaving their keys in the vehicle (or leaving a spare set in there). Having a spare set of keys in the cab makes it too easy for a thief to hop into an unattended fleet vehicle and drive off with it.
4. Use GPS Tracking Devices to Monitor Vehicle Assets. GPS can be a key fleet management tool that helps to increase fleet efficiency. It can also be a powerful vehicle theft prevention solution that increases your chances of quickly detecting a theft in progress and safely recovering your stolen assets. You can also tag trailers or high-value pieces of cargo to help detect and prevent cargo theft.
5. Apply Geofencing Boundaries for Vehicles. A geofence is a GPS software setting that creates an artificial boundary around a specific location or route. Once a vehicle crosses that boundary, an alert is triggered and sent to fleet management staff. This can provide an excellent early warning of a theft in progress and help ensure swift recovery for stolen assets.
6. Consider In-Vehicle Camera Systems. If you’ve ever seen TV shows like Bait Car, then you know how effective camera systems can be for identifying and catching vehicle thieves. When paired with camera AI solutions to detect intruders, these surveillance systems can be an incredibly powerful anti-theft tool.
7. Use Wheel Chocks on Parked Vehicles. Wheel chocks are often used to hold truck trailers in place during loading and unloading operations. Wedging two wheel chocks into place on a parked vehicle’s tires can prevent it from being driven off the lot. At the very least, it can delay would-be thieves, buying time for the driver or the authorities to discover the criminal in the act.
8. Remotely Disable Vehicle Starters During Off Hours. One crucial vehicle asset management tactic to prevent theft is to remotely disable a vehicle’s starter. By keeping starters disabled during off-hours, thieves will have a much harder time stealing vehicles when your drivers are on break. Some GPS tracking devices can allow fleet managers to remotely disable vehicle starters.
9. Set a “Panic Code” or Button for Drivers. Drivers are often the first line of defense against vehicle theft. They’re the most likely to notice a theft attempt—or they may even be the victim of a hijacking attempt. Providing a panic button they can hit or a panic code they can enter in a messaging app that sends a priority alert to fleet management staff can help improve your ability to detect theft attempts and increase driver safety.

The Benefits of Preventing Vehicle Theft

There are numerous benefits to preventing vehicle theft. The first, and most obvious, is avoiding high vehicle replacement costs. While costs can vary depending on the make and model of the vehicle and its specific features, estimates from costowl.com put the price of a new semi-truck anywhere between $80k and $150k on average—not including the cost of the trailer and cargo it may be carrying.

Other benefits of preventing vehicle theft include:

• Avoiding costly service interruptions;
• Keeping insurance premiums lower; and
• Increasing driver and vehicle safety.

Being able to keep your fleet vehicles and other assets protected from would-be thieves is paramount to ensuring efficient fleet operations. Need help setting up GPS tracking solutions and other anti-theft solutions for your vehicle fleet? Reach out to the Rastrac team today!