Yellow metal theft – A gold mine industry
Who would have thought that a yellow metal plant would be such a big industry for thieves? Well let's just say this: It is huge business!
With the increase in illegal mining operations, the need for equipment grows. Now what thief will legally go and rent some and put it to work? Only the dumb ones.
Over the past couple of years the need for mining equipment for illegal operations has risen nearly 60%. This leave the yellow metals industry wide open for abuse. Plant hire companies are getting ripped off nearly daily.
An example of this was a Johannesburg plant hire company that hired out about four excavators to an individual. All seemed above board until the return date was reached and the company tried to contact the individual. The tracking company was contacted and ground crew dispatched.
The plant was last seen in Limpopo near Polokwane heading south to Burgersfort. This didn’t seem strange at all. The tracking unit was live but was battling to give a signal back to the tracking base due to the lack of cellphone coverage in the area. The ground crew managed to track down the excavator abandoned in an open field about an hour after it was reported to have been “stolen”. What came next was a huge shock to the ground crew and the owner of the excavator.
As is required by law, the tracking company informed the SAPS of the incident and they dispatched a vehicle to the scene. While the ground crew waited they noticed that there were about seven other excavators on the scene and they went to have a look at what was going on.
Benefit of the doubt was given and they checked the VIN numbers on a data base of stolen excavators. Lo and behold they were also sought by the police. Now things were starting to heat up. The ground crew literally stumbled across a gold mine. They had recovered the excavator/s on an illegal mining site. It wasn’t long after that the police arrived and then suddenly the scene became overcrowded with officials and law enforcers.
Far too often do I see reports of vehicles, trucks and yellow metal plant being stolen and the tracking devices taken out. Ground crew recovery teams regularly find tracking units at the last known locations. This is very concerning to the heavy transport and plant hire community. There is only one logical reason why this happens. The thieves are getting more proficient at their jobs. Which means, as plant and truck owners you need to become more proficient at ensuring that your plant is safe.
How do you do this? Well you can put a tracking unit into your plant, truck or motor vehicle? This alone isn’t enough any longer. Secondary measures need to be taken to ensure that you are covered.
Many tracking companies have a secondary device that can be used to place into the asset and ensure that it will be recovered. I explored a couple of these companies’ tracking units and secondary devices to see what was the best. I also looked at a couple of recovery teams employed by tracking companies to see what they got up to.
This is what I came up with:
A GPS tracking device is just a dot on the map that tells you how fast you are going and where you went to. A secondary device like an RF (radio frequency) device can seldom pinpoint where it is, but can be hidden to ensure that when your tracking company is looking for your plant, they are going to find it.
A couple of companies have this solution and were willing to share what they do to ensure they get their clients’ assets back.
One of these companies is Intellidrive vehicle tracking based in Gauteng. They have a really nifty little GPS unit that is their fleet management unit. They also have a secondary device they offer their clients. This unit is an independent unit that does not rely on the vehicles power to get its power. It also has a battery life of five years in dormant mode. Recovery rate if installed properly is almost guaranteed. I say almost because no tracking company can boast a definitive 100% recovery rate.
Recovery
Most tracking companies provide an in-house recovery service with in-house ground crews, control rooms and so on. Other companies cut costs by employing external contractors to assist with the recoveries. They both have their pros and cons, but they are both effective in their own rights. The effectiveness of a ground crew is always dependant on their information and resources. If the tracking unit is removed or jammed, there is not much they can do to recover the asset.
Identification is the next big tool we need to cover. Visually you can describe the plant by name and basic description. But if there are seven identical pieces of plant, how do you know what is what? There is always microdot identification, but with the numerous vendors for microdots, who do you go with? I would always suggest doing your homework and looking at who has the best standing. I noticed that 90% of VWs are microdotted by a company called Recoveri microdots. Needless to say I looked into the company and was astonished to find out that the CEO was also heavily involved in the combating of vehicle crime through the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators. Recoveri provides identification tools to law enforcement to assist them in quickly being able to identify the plant or asset when recovered. This is definitely something to look at when purchasing your next heavy transport item or yellow metal plant. More about this in the next article.
Conclusion
Although we can take every precaution to ensure that we have the right tracking devices and safety measures in place, we always have to be ahead of the eight ball. Everything from cargo to movable assets, cars trucks and yellow metal plant are easy targets for the criminal element. That’s why as asset owners you have to consider all options when tracking your vehicle.
GPS tracking units are good to have and are a must in the current economic climate that is South Africa, but we need to remember that getting your vehicles back should be your first priority. Getting the right tracking company to work for your assets, ensuring that you have a secondary device and that there is national coverage from your recovery company. The above combination, along with a good microdotting solution, will cover your assets nicely.
