I have some general statistics and trends. Construction equipment theft, although not as high as for automobiles or pickup trucks, is still a major concern across Canada. Last fall, as an example, four members of our association lost new-model Caterpillar motor graders. Each one of these was worth a quarter of a million dollars, and you can imagine the number of Honda Civics, in dollar value, you would need to add up to the value of these four stolen machines.
There are challenges associated with the lack of industry standards. VINs on heavy equipment can range from four digits through to 17 digits, whereas automobiles and other vehicles on the road are all regulated and built with a 17-digit mathematically generated VIN. This creates difficulty for law enforcement officers attempting to identify construction equipment.
There are challenges also associated with the lack of industry standards for specific location and methods of fixation for VINs. Again, consumer vehicles such as automobiles all have their VIN attached in a uniform location. Construction equipment has no such guidelines, and this problem weighs heavily on both police officers and Canada customs agents trying to identify suspected stolen equipment. Because there is little or no training on where to find VINs, the recovery of this type of equipment continues to be low.