We've been working on a new distribution hub for Fed-Ex for the last 3 months, and over that time period we've had our semi trailers and cargo boxes broken into 3 times. The site is semi-secluded and the kick in the teeth is that they've used our equipment to break in! The first time the locks were cleaned off using a Case 580 backhoe, the next two times they used a Komatsu 200 excavator to tear the whole rear door off of some semi trailers!! Total loses are in the range of $15,000 and that doesn't include any damage repair. We've since installed "master" kill switches on our excavators to disable the machines during off hours, but other equipment remains. With everyone having access to multi-key sets, are there any other solutions? Wondering if anyone has had similar experiences and maybe better solutions? Kevin
Pick up a couple of hunting trail cameras from a hunting store. Walmart has these also. They are used for taking pictures of wildlife in your hunting grounds. They come with a strap on the back for mounting. Disable the flash and place them in equipment or areas that will likely be robbed. Most of these cameras have an IR, or Infra-Red, light thats not detectable by humans. Even with the flash disabled, you should still get pictures of the perps in darkness. The camera will detect motion and will start taking pictures. You set how many pictures it takes per every motion detection. The key is how many you use. Place some in the equipment and outside the equipment. They might find one or two but they can't find them all. Some of the better digital ones are $100-$150 a piece. Cheap insurance if you ask me. The quantity of pictures you takes is also important. If you're not lucky enough to get their faces, pictures of their vehicle and the like can also help. Take all pictures directly to the authorities. If you know where they are entering the site, place one there as well. Just make sure all the batteries are good. Also, if you are the one placing the cameras, don't tell anyone. If you happen to have someone doing an inside job, they won't know they are there. Good luck.
I'd get the model cameras with the accessory shotgun trigger option and tell everybody,hehe
How big are these camera's? Just curious if it's something we can put in the cab without it being noticed or if it should be mounted outside? I guess I should hit the store and research them....thanks for the idea!
Most are about 6" by 6". You can place them somewhere that you can hang a rag or something on them so they won't be noticeable.
Wow, those are awesome camera's, gonna check FleaBay.
I talked to a few guys today who said the camera's do a great job to scare away would be thieves if they see them, but most of the photos they've gotten without using the flash were grainy and definitely wouldn't be of much use identifying someone. My thought was, if they see the flash, they would obviously go for the camera and make sure that evidence wasn't left behind, right?
most cameras record live data directly to a hard drive on a computer somewhere, so if they were to smash the camera, no big deal. All you have to do is hide your computer! No idea whatsoever how these cameras work that you guys are talking about, so it may not work like this
A little clarification Young One; it's a small 6x6 plastic case that contains a standard camera, either 35mm or digital. It also contains a motion sensor that tells the camera to take pictures. You hang it on a tree near where you hunt and it will takes pictures of the wildlife that show up. It's not linked to a computer until you bring the camera and plug it into your computer to download or develop the pictures. Special K, yes the flash would likely get your camera stolen too. Is there power at the jobsite. Illuminating the area where you place the cameras would eliminate the grainy pictures. The IR light just isn't strong enough to reach father than say 10" feet, without the flash. As you've found, they don't work in every situation, but they do work if the conditions are right. With what you are describing, they just might not work for you. Anyway, just passing along an idea we've used before. Good luck.
Have a camp out one night with a 12 ga. J/K Sine its secluded I wouldn't be surprised if it was a Fedx guy or one of your employees.
ahhh, that's for clearifiy that. Never heard anything like that before, but it sounds really successful tho. Either way, sucks having your stuff stole like that
I hate theives why cant they leave stuff alone
Maybe try getting some battery operated motion lights.If you had enough of them coming on at one time might make them nervous enough to run.:beatsme:usa
Short of using an armed and awake security guard on the night shift and the day shift as well on week ends, there isn't much you can do to stop thieves or joy riders from using your equipment, short of totally disabling it so that even you have to spend considerable time getting it to run at the beginning of the next shift. Cameras will show you what is happening and when, may even show some detail, maybe enough to catch the perps. But that will be after your equipment and storage is wrecked and valuable tools and stuff long gone. You have to sit and watch a lot of video with cameras, unless they are triggered by motion sensors. Make sure they record time and date. Sensor lights might scare some folks off. The ones that stay dark untill tripped by motion. If the sensors were hooked up to a hell of a loud horn or siren that worked the same way, maybe in conjunction with lights, that might work too. You can also buy and mount fake cameras. Lots cheaper than working models and maybe effective using the scare factor. You might also try fencing in your storage compound and getting a big mean and hungry mutt to sit inside. In some places, you can rent these canine security guards. The rental outfits feeds and takes care of them and places them in the compound at the end of the day and takes them out the next morning. Watch your step though, they tend to leave proof of their presence on the ground all over the place. Lastly, you can work three shifts back to back and never close down. Good Luck!
Now that is a problem if you hire "security", keeping them awake while someone is robbing/vandalizing your stuff. I tried this route and it was very expensive although nothing was stolen or vandalized but I did catch them sleeping a couple of times. Maybe their presence was enough?:beatsme I have been robbed and vandalized too much to mention. I like the idea of the video cameras - both operable and the fake ones. A builder friend of mine has the dummy cameras mounted on poles in one of their deveopments and it was effective in detering would be thieves and vandals. I use battery disconnects, vandalism guards, park equipment in a line with the smallest in the middle, trailer hitch locks and try to keep all the small tools on the crew trucks and let the guys drive them home. Most of my guys like guns so I think the trucks are better off in their driveway than a secluded parking lot, plus it is an added benefit of being able to drive the company truck home. That benefit has increased for them with fuel as high as it is. One solution for conex boxes is to weld hinges and a flat steel bar on the back of the box where the doors are. Lock the box as normal and swing the bar into place across both doors. You can make a master lock holder out of a short piece of metal pipe where the bar slides through a cut in the pipe. Take a flat piece of steel and weld a T on it with a hole in the end for the lock to go through. The steel bar needs a slot cut into the end of it for the T to slide through and the lock attaches below it. The lock will then be recessed up into the short piece of pipe, locking the bar to the box and making it almost impossible, without a torch, to cut it. If anyone has used the game cameras to monitor equipment please let us know how it works, I am interested in using them.
Haha i just got done watching something on ABC news last night. Apparently in texas your alowwed to shoot anyone tresspassing and meaning to cause harm to you or your property. Well some guy was sitting up when he noticed 2 guys running out of his neighbors house, he called 911 and said i got 2 guys breaking into my neighbors house and i have a shotgun right in my hand. The dispatcher goes "no dont do anything just wait for the police to handle it, I repeat let the police show up!" 5 secs later "Hey stop!... BOOM! CHH CHH! BOOM!....he goes "I gottem now!" The whole thing was recorded...i thought it was pretty funny
That's a sound you don't want to hear in the dark!
One company i worked for had a box broken into on the same site. The first time they used the hoe to bust the doors open. After that we put the D85 on one side, and parked a D6N against the doors. Well they busted the dash and hot wired the 6 and peeled the conex box open like it was a sardine can. While the guys taking a truck with tools home can help, it can hurt too. Things seem to "get lost" or disapear outa the truck. The guys like to stop at the local watering hole on the way home, stuff falls outa the truck there, and you have the liabilty of the guy driving your truck home from the watering hole. Best solution to date that i have seen. At least cheapest, and effective. A local bridge contractor puts theyre boxes next to the road, as close to a light pole as possible. They have welded angle irons on both sides behind the doors. This works for them because they always have a crane on site. They slide a pices of 1/2 inch plate in behind the doors.
My mini is located at our land which is not where we currently live. I put it in a 20ft Shipping container that is locked when I can, but sometimes it's easier to leave it overnight where I am using it rather than put it away again. The thing that bothers me is the key (or a screwdriver + hammer) is all that is needed to start it, not to mention hotwiring it which is pretty easy. I don't have a cabin, just a canopy, so I'd like to immobilize it some way by removing a part from the engine, or padlocking the levers to a hand rail or such. I think the best method would be to have something discrete so any would be thief can't immediately see the problem. I've thought about a good old car alarm with immobilizer solenoid. Any other suggestions?
My concrete sub has master battery switches on all his equipment. At the end of the day, they remove the master key, and padlock the engine compartment shut. The master switch is next to impossible to tamper with, and completely disables the machine.
when ever i take equipment home for the weekend to use i always unplug the fuel shut off on the engine or the speed sensor or some part that it may start or crank over but will not allow the machine to run also when i unplug stuff leave it half plugged in where it looks like its connected or just pull fuses and that will also stop them granted you tell all your secrets and anyone reading on the forums now knows what to look for
wal mart has one for under a $100 bucks