How GPS Tracking Can Prevent Equipment Theft

According to the National Equipment Register, equipment theft is on the rise. To avoid stolen equipment replacement costs, it’s important to be able to locate and recover your large construction equipment and valuable assets. Being able to track smaller equipment is equally important—due to their size, small assets are highly vulnerable to theft and misplacement. Today, innovative technology such as GPS and Bluetooth tracking devices (part of asset tracking systems) offer a better way to protect your large and small equipment, so you can maximize efficiency and reduce operating costs.

In this guide, we will break down how you can leverage GPS tracking and other asset tracking technology to help prevent equipment theft, minimize insurance claims, and help you improve equipment recovery rates.

LEARN MORE: Anti-Theft Tips from Samsara 

Public agencies such as governments and schools, have a wide variety of equipment that is needed at peak community times, like snowstorms, community events. Tracking vehicle location, ensuring they aren’t stolen, knowing in what condition they are are key to delivering efficient citizen services. Protecting public assets from theft is critical. Examples include but are not limited to; generators, speed signs, dumpsters etc.

What is GPS tracking?

GPS tracking devices are one of the more popular types of tracking systems available to organizations and consumers today. A GPS tracker is a device that uses the Global Positioning System to determine and track locations.This enables location data to be collected and displayed on a map which can then be used to locate something, such as large construction equipment or vehicles. 

LEARN MORE: Your Guide to GPS Tracking for Equipment 

3 ways GPS tracking can prevent large equipment theft 

1. Track the locations of your high-value mobile equipment in real time 

The first step to preventing equipment theft is knowing where all of your equipment is located. At their core, GPS tracking devices help you keep track of large equipments’ locations. GPS trackers such as Asset Gateways provide customizable real-time GPS tracking so that you can keep track of your powered, unpowered, and heavy equipment. 

Depending on the type of equipment, you can customize the ping rate to satisfy your organization’s needs. For example, heavy equipment such as loaders may require real-time tracking whereas an unpowered asset may only require twice-a-day check-ins. In the event of large equipment theft, GPS tracking devices will help you track down the exact location of your large equipment so you can recover it or provide information to law enforcement. With Samsara, you can view your large equipments’ locations through one centralized and secure dashboard, regardless of how many job sites or pieces of large equipment you have.

2. Track suspicious equipment movement with customizable geofence alerts

GPS tracking can also help prevent large equipment theft through geofence alerts. Geofence alerts help notify you when a piece of large equipment leaves a predetermined location, which can be an indication of theft. 

With these alerts set up, you will be notified on your cell phone or via email of unscheduled movement from a worksite, construction site, or equipment yard. Geofence alerts allow you to act fast so you can immediately investigate suspicious activity, such as a stolen vehicle or stolen piece of equipment. This way, you can quickly track down equipment and improve your organization’s recovery rates. 

LEARN FROM A CUSTOMER: How Ghilotti Bros. uses Samsara Geofence Alerts to track down stolen equipment 

3. Gain insight into equipment inventory 

Oftentimes, organizations don’t notice a piece of equipment is missing until they need to use it. Without a way to automatically track inventory, noticing equipment theft can be incredibly challenging. 

With the Inventory Report in Samsara, your organization can automatically keep track of all equipment locations in real time. By gaining insight into your equipment inventory, you can notice missing or stolen equipment faster, which will help aid asset recovery down the line. 

How to choose the right GPS tracking solution for large equipment 

The best way to select a GPS tracking solution for your organization is to determine what level of visibility your business needs and choose an equipment tracking device accordingly. Here’s a checklist of important questions to consider when evaluating a tracking technology system:

• Quality of location data: Would your organization benefit from real-time tracking, or is a single location ping every five to ten minutes sufficient? Additionally, would it be helpful to have the option to switch between real-time or interval alerts? 

• Ease of use: How straightforward is the equipment tracking dashboard? Will it require a heavy-lift to onboard and train employees to use it? Does it have a mobile dashboard? 

• Ease of install: How seamless will the install process be for your fleet? Will it require hiring additional people or new resources? 

• Power: How are the equipment trackers powered? Is the battery lifespan inline with your organization’s needs? 

• Customer support: What level of customer service will your team require? Is it important for your team to have access to support via phone, a mobile app, or digital help desk?

The different types of Samsara asset tracking devices

Whether you need GPS tracking for your unpowered equipment or you’re also looking for a solution to track heavy equipment such as cranes, bulldozers, and more—Samsara has you covered. Samsara offers a variety of unpowered and powered asset gateways, so you can keep all your GPS tracking data consolidated on one platform.

Below is an overview of the different types of Samsara asset tracking devices. For more information, learn more about our asset tracking solutions or reach out to our team for a free trial.

Leveraging an asset tracking solution to protect small equipment from theft

While GPS tracking is an effective method to prevent large equipment theft, what if you need to protect smaller assets? Field workers depend on small equipment such as toolboxes, portable pumps, pallet jacks, porta potties, laser levels, and more to execute essential jobs and tasks. To carry out essential jobs and tasks, it’s crucial to protect these assets from theft or loss. Unfortunately, protecting small assets has become a significant challenge for industries in physical operations, with up to 30% of tool purchases being stolen or misplaced.

Samsara Asset Tags are changing the way small equipment is tracked. The size of a mini candy bar, Asset Tags use Bluetooth technology and a vast industrial network of millions of devices to discreetly offer full visibility into equipment location. With a real-time asset tracking solution for your small assets, you can reduce downtime, mitigate theft, and simplify inventory management.

Protect your large and small equipment from theft with Samsara Asset Tracking technology

Today, innovative asset tracking technology such as Samsara Asset Gateways offer a modern way to protect large equipment. Asset Gateways provide you with full visibility into the location of your powered and unpowered equipment, enabling you to minimize theft, improve operational efficiency, and reduce costs. With Samsara's real-time information and live-to-the-second tracking, you can accelerate asset recovery and maximize utilization—across an entire asset fleet, these savings can have a significant impact on the bottom line.

In addition, Samsara Asset Tags can help you minimize small equipment theft and improve operational efficiency. By attaching an Asset Tag on a piece of small equipment, you can leverage the Samsara Network to get real-time visibility into location data—this enables you to effectively mitigate theft and protect revenue. For example, Desilva Gates, a construction company based in California, uses the Asset Tag to add a layer of protection to their most high-value assets. As a result, they can deter theft and improve inventory management—enabling them to improve efficiency and better protect their $200 million equipment fleet.

To learn more about how Samsara Asset Tracking can help you successfully protect your large and small equipment from theft, reach out for a free trial or learn more about the technology today.