The recovery operation began when an A-Plant engineer received an out-of-hours call from contractor Houseman & Falshaw reporting the theft of a 12m telehandler from a site in Oldbury, West Midlands. The engineer contacted A-Plant’s local service centre manager, who logged onto the A-Trak system from home through the extranet system on A-Plant’s website to locate the position of the stolen machine. Using A-Trak, the manager generated an aerial photograph of a transport yard where the equipment was being hidden.
The crime was reported to the police but soon after the manager saw that the telehandler was on the move. From the speed that it was moving, it was clearly being transported on a vehicle. The manager relayed live information to the police to keep them updated on the location of the stolen telehandler. Using the tracking system, he could follow its progress down the M6 and M1 and see it pull in at Watford Gap services.
As the vehicle had not been identified, the police were not yet able to act. They were also hampered by the fact that the vehicle was travelling through different force areas, making it difficult for one single force to pursue it.
At this point A-Plant and Enigma Vehicle Systems joined forces to assist matters. The A-Plant service centre manager got back in touch with the engineer who had taken the first call about the theft. By chance, he was near the M25 where the lorry was now heading. With the engineer in his car and the service centre manager tracking locations online, they could together locate the vehicle. The engineer drove past a few times and the service centre manager checked the vehicle overlay on the A-Trak system. Enigma played a crucial role by checking traffic cameras along the route and giving real time data from the A-Trak system.
The engineer was then able to give police the registration and continued to follow the thieves for 10 minutes until the police arrived. Now on the M20 and heading for a coastal port, the driver of the vehicle was pulled over. The telehandler was immediately discovered and the driver was arrested.
A-Plant marketing director Asif Latief said: “This remarkable recovery operation was only possible due to the power of the A-Trak system and fantastic collaboration between the customer, A-Plant, Enigma and the police. Over 98% of stolen A-Plant equipment protected with A-Trak is recovered, compared to an industry average of just 5-10%. It is just one of the many added value elements we can offer.”
Houseman & Falshaw managing director Stuart Falshaw said: “In the current economic climate it is reassuring to hire plant we can recover when stolen. We have all read about or been targeted by this organised crime and it is pleasing to know the system works. Due to the efforts of A-Plant, Enigma and our own site staff, arrests have been made and the plant recovered. The company would like to express its thanks to all persons involved in the tracking and recovery of this item of plant. We are pleased to be associated with A-Plant and will convey to all our Site Managers the benefits of using A-Trak in the future.”
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