Whether you are a warehousing operator or a business owner having the peace of mind knowing that you wont experience a stolen forklift is always desirable.
However, in the unfortunate event that your forklift is stolen, you may be panicking and perhaps wishing you kept your assets with a sturdier lock or had a better logging system as to when the forklift was last in use. In this article we will present to you the possible preventative measures to eliminate stolen forklifts and what to do if this occurs.
Tips For Stolen Forklift And Equipment Theft Protection
The Forklift Truck Association (FLTA) is an organisation that specialises in forklift protection and safety, forklift advice and training regimes for transportation operators. What is alarming is that they have a ‘stolen forklift’ section where users can register their stolen vehicles. It is currently 8 pages long which is enough for transportation operators to become concerned and cautious towards forklift protection and theft.
Additionally, many of the registered forklifts have yet to be found and can be dated as far back as 2018. Clearly, if you have bought a brand new 4 wheel forklift truck, protecting your investment by establishing security measures is something that all operators should consider if you don’t want to experience a massive loss for yourself or business.
It is important to note that while we can’t guarantee any one or combination of security measures will ensure 100% equipment theft protection, there are some measures that you might take to help minimise forklift theft which we will disclose to you below.
Routinely Inspect Locks And Fences
Locks and fences act as a forklift protection barrier and are a fantastic deterrent to help with forklift protection and theft. However, theft possibilities may increase if your locks and fences fall beyond a repairable stage. Therefore, developing a security routine that includes patrolling the fenced perimeter on a recurring basis is advised. This will help to make sure you can identify any weaknesses and fix them before they allow criminals easy access into the premises. Additionally, monthly checks on locks are recommended and for even better security, changing the key cutting for the locks every so often may be a useful tip to really prevent easy access to your forklift truck storage area.
Ensure Recording Equipment Functions Appropriately
Any recording equipment such as surveillance cameras you have on the premises should be checked to ensure they have the correct field of view. Law enforcement can better assist in theft scenarios when views are not obstructed. Of course, surveillance may not be available/affordable if a user leaves their forklift in a private storage area overnight however, there are a few tricks which can provide a cheaper option to installing cameras. These can be in the form of:
- Security Signs (even if fake) – Fake security signs such as ‘security cameras in operation’ can provide a cheap alternative to getting a new security system.
- Installing motion detector lights – Motion detector lights give you alerts when someone or something is moving in the vicinity. More often than not, the thing that activates the motion detector lights can be late night wild life but these lights are better than nothing.
- Dummy cameras – Although not the best option to ensure forklift protection, it is still an alternative if private users want to safely secure their forklift trucks and have at least one method of forklift protection for peace of mind.
Protecting Rental Fleets
Protecting your forklift when it’s on your premises is one thing, but protecting a piece of rental equipment once it leaves the premises creates an even more stressful and tedious task in itself. To help prevent the theft of rental equipment, it’s important that you have a detailed rental documentation process. Run credit checks and make photocopies of IDs for those who wish to rent forklift or transportation machinery. Finally, make sure that all of your employees are appropriately trained on these procedures and that they follow the standards every time to minimise stolen forklifts.
Another good method for rental fleets is equipment marking. Marking inventory by having each of your units registered on a national database used by law enforcement (such as TER) makes it much less likely for your equipment to be stolen. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) numbers further help law enforcement officials track equipment should it be stolen.
As said before, while these aren’t the only practices that can help you protect your equipment, and they aren’t a guaranteed deterrent to theft, they might help you secure assets and minimise substantial losses. A final point to consider would be to get into contact with local law enforcement companies to ask for advice and begin to build a relationship for future protection.