Leading independent equipment hirer GAP Hire Solutions has been using CanTrack Asset in a range of its compact construction equipment since June 2016 and by June 2017 two GAP machines, both mini-excavators, had been stolen and recovered by CanTrack in under 24 hours.
In early July GAP reported the theft of an Atlas Copco XAS 137 mobile compressor from a site near the Raith Interchange, on the M74 motorway near Bothwell, 12 miles south of Glasgow.
The mobile compressor was fitted with a compact self-contained Asset unit which had reported its location as being in the Carntyne/Shettlestone area of Glasgow, west of the city centre and 10 miles from the site of the theft.
CanTrack’s Scottish investigator was alerted to the news and immediately made his way to the stolen machine’s reported location. The Asset’s homing beacon had been activated and this enabled the investigator to sweep the area looking for a tell-tale signal.
After a few minutes, a signal was detected coming from a large block of industrial units. The investigator contacted Police Scotland and asked for on-site assistance.
Within half an hour two officers arrived on the scene and a detailed search was carried out. After making enquiries at adjacent units the search homed in on a scruffy unit containing two large sea containers. The stolen GAP compressor was found ‘stuffed’ in one of the steel containers, minus its wheels.
The container was part filled with other stolen items including bicycles. Subsequently the police arrested a Nigerian suspect who was arranging the shipment of the stolen goods to Nigeria. After a bit of a struggle GAP staff managed to extricate their compressor from the container and recover it.
Once again, the powerful yet compact, self-contained, Asset had done its job before the thieves had a chance to ship their ill-gotten gains abroad. The power of the Asset signal proved decisive in this recovery as the stolen compressor was in a steel container which in turn was in a steel framed and clad building. CanTrack Asset maintains its 90%+ recovery rate and GAP Hire Solutions remain a satisfied customer.
