Tracking device aids telehandler recovery

The recovery of a stolen £55,000 telehandler in just a couple of hours has prompted a major insurer to urge plant owners to fit tracking devices to their more expensive items of kit.

Mike Bishop, managing director of Hertfordshire-based Bishops Builders Developers, fitted a Siemens VDO TrakBak system to his JCB telehandler when he bought it earlier this year.

“At around 5.30pm one afternoon, I received a call from the National Control Centre telling me my machine was on the move. They knew the site should be closed by then as we finish work at 4.45pm,” said Bishop.

He went straight back to the site to discover the gates had been forced open and the telehandler gone, and immediately called the police who then co-ordinated the tracking of the machine with Siemens VDO.

Within a few minutes it became obvious that the telehandler was travelling at speed along a motorway and therefore had to be on the back of a truck.

The truck came to a stop in Welwyn Garden City, pursued by a helicopter. The thief jumped into a waiting car, but was unable to escape. His accomplice was arrested the following day.

Underwriting manager for Zurich Commercial Construction Andy Penny said: “Zurich recommends constant monitoring tracking devices on higher value items,” pointing out that they could attract a discount of up to 25% on insurance premiums.

TrakBak is a real-time vehicle positioning and tracking system and features a driver verification system, which requires the driver to activate a covertly- positioned confirmation switch before moving away.

[Contract Journal, 1 November 2006, p15]