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My contractor-neighbor,
Jorge, is a man of many moods, but I don't think I've
ever seen him as stomping mad as when he showed up on my back
porch after work last week.
"Some *&%*&#
stole my brand-new compact loader!" he raged, spitting
out each word to emphasize the depth of his anger. "It
was up Highway 33 past the entrance to Matilija Dam. We're
clearing a pad for Caltrans to park a trailer and some maintenance
equipment on. It was inside a fenced area chained to a big
white dump truck.
"I know the
place is in the boonies, but it's easily visible from
the highway. The thief had to have known exactly what to do
and how to do it, getting in there and out without being seen."
Jorge went back
and forth over the situation: the precautions he'd taken,
the lack of security, the attractiveness of the compact loader,
its utility and importance to him on this particular job,
his confidence in the people working with him, the lack of
enthusiasm on the part of the sheriff's department that
the equipment would be recovered, the apparent run-around
he was getting from the insurance company, his stupidity in
leaving such a tempting target out there, the added costs
of hauling equipment back and forth to the site each day.
"Why'd
this happen to me?" he asked. As it turns out, Jorge
might better have asked why this hadn't happened to him
sooner. Earthmoving equipment theft is big business. The sheriff's
deputy who investigated the incident might not have known
the statistics on equipment theft, but since this was his
second such response that day and his fourth in the week,
he held no illusions as to the seriousness of the problem
or the likelihood that "the perps will be apprehended."
Even his question, "What color was it the last time you
saw it?" conveyed this skepticism that it would ever
turn up. "If we don't catch these guys in the first
hour or so, there's little hope of finding them,"
was the best assurance he could give Jorge.
According to the
National Insurance Crime Bureau, the construction industry
incurs $1 billion in losses annually as a result of heavy-equipment
and tool theft. Construction equipment theft is a lucrative
and growing business for thieves throughout the country. Though
wheeled and tracked equipment are favored, generators, air
compressors, and other construction-site equipment are by
no means safe.
It torques my jaws
to think that Jorge is out a valuable piece of equipment and
that even with insurance he'll lose the amount of the
deductible–$5,000 in this case–but what bothers
me more is facing up to a very unpleasant aspect of our industry.
Unlike other kinds of theft where the principal beneficiaries
are the thief and other low-life cretins, here the person
who benefits the most is another contractor. And it's
not only that you and Jorge have to bid against someone whose
equipment costs are bogus, but when this person is finally
caught, you and everyone else in the construction business
gets a black eye.
I wish I knew what
to say to Jorge, but I didn't have any good answers at
the moment. But I will, as Grading & Excavation Contractor
intends to take on the subject of equipment theft as a very
personal challenge. Therefore, any thoughts and/or experiences
you have are greatly appreciated. I can be reached at editor@forester.net,
or drop by our booth (N-2401) at CONEXPO-CON/AGG in Las Vegas,
NV, March 19-23.
Send
John an Email
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