Hire and Rental News - August 2015

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EQUIPMENT NEWS
HIRE AND RENTAL NEWS • AUGUST 2015 58
By Debra Silver, Vipertrak
In Australia alone reported heavy vehicle
thefts increased by 23% for the period
2004–2014 which was largely due to a
45% rise in plant and equipment thefts.
And by comparison, thefts of heavy
trucks Increased by 12%. In 2014, the total
estimated value of reported heavy vehicles
stolen was $51.2 million.
Some other key findings were: in the same
period the largest increase was in profit
motivated theft. Profit motivated heavy
truck thefts increased by 186% and profit
motivated plant and equipment thefts
increased by 60%.
Although the increase of heavy vehicle
theft has not been uniform across
Australia according to the report, South
Australia was the only state to record a
decrease, whereas some states showed an
increase, as high as 319% in New South
Wales. Queensland 79% increase for profit
motivated theft, 84% increases for Victoria
and Western Australia 261% increase all for
profit motivated theft as opposed to short
term theft or joy riding.
So in 2014 alone 1,873 heavy vehicles were
stolen across Australia. Of these 1,873
vehicles 1,164 were heavy trucks, 698 were
plant and equipment and 11 unknown
heavy vehicle.
But when we talk about the true cost of
theft it is always much higher than the
actual cost of the loss of the machinery or
vehicle stolen. There are other factors to be
considered other than increased insurance
premiums and excess payments.
There is the additional cost of replacing
that machine and also getting a
replacement machine to the required
location. This could easily include extra
staffing costs and possibly accommodation
and transit costs not originally factored
into your quote. Not to mention the time
down while waiting for replacement as
well as time spent with all the stress.
With heavy machinery traditionally having
universal keys and with these machines
not having Vin numbers to trace it’s no
wonder the theft rates are getting higher
Uncovering hidden financial losses in the hiring and rental industry
Bill Cowie Founder and CEO of Move Yourself Trailers has designed a simple system called
Vipertrak that helps businesses keep track of expensive machinery and vehicles and disable
them remotely but can also assist in tracking possible lost income by checking billable hours
on machinery. The following is an account of the latest statistics on Heavy Vehicle Theft
in Australia Published in February 2015 (source ) which shows the value of
vehicle tracking.
and costing Australian
businesses losses.
Then there is the ‘other
type of theft’ which
is the billable hours.
How many times have
you suspected your
machinery is being
used outside the leased
agreement? The fact is
potentially:
1 You’re losing out on
extra income.
2 Your bottom line is
affected with extra
costing associated
with the servicing
and maintenance of
your machinery.
This type of theft is rarely thought of as
theft and in normal cases can be very hard
to prove or disprove.
Vipertrak is an Australian owned and run
business with Australian based support.
Contact: 0408 474 162 or visit website:
When looking for a partner for its
workshop, Brad Jones Racing (BJR) found
the perfect combination of technology,
service, reliability and price from the
compressed air specialists at Pilot Air.
Brad Jones Racing has been involved in
motor sports for over 20 years, growing
from what was once a small workshop in
the regional NSW town of Albury, to these
days running a production workshop with
multiple CNC machines, a paint booth,
mechanics area and sub-assembly zone.
With three cars in the current V8 Supercar
series and three more in the development
series, the workshop cannot afford
any downtime, while at the same time,
requiring its suppliers to keep up with the
exacting demands of V8 Supercar racing
This means having the right compressed
air system throughout the facility is
crucial for both on-going production and
overall efficiency.
One of the problems the BJR team was
experiencing previously was not having
Pilot Air helps BJR stay on track
the right amount of clean, dry air flowing
to their CNC machines.
BJR Team Owner Kim Jones said: “Pilot
Air has the ability to tailor your air needs
and supply the correct equipment to do
the job. Being experts in their field, like us,
they know reliability is one of the keys to
business longevity.”
With over 30 years compressed air
experience, Australian-owned Pilot Air
designs, manufactures and offers sales,
service and installation of air compressors,
compressed air delivery systems and
components.
Visit:
Brad Jones Racing chooses Pilot Air
The true cost of theft is always much higher than the actual cost of the loss
of the machinery