Trailer Theft

steve-in-kville

I know there's a few contractors here that tow trailers and let them at jobs, and/or keep the large majority of their tools and equipment in one. I am considering making the transition from a van to a truck and trailer. I'm looking at a smaller enclosed trailer, 10' in length. Even with hitch locks, I've heard of these trailers being stolen. Are there any theft deterants out there for enclosed trailers?

Thanks!!

steve

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joasis

The most effective trailer theft deterrent I have seen is a removable tounge from the trailer....hard to steal if they have no way to hitch it up....I have seen guys remove the wheels when it is on the job site...lock the hitch....chain it to a tree, etc, etc. But something missing, that cannot be easily fabricated would be the best bet. I have used a step van for years...just because it comes home every night, but I just bought a 20 foot enclosed trailer, so I will have to look at security also.

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Ed the Roofer

I had a removable tongue on the front of my brand new $ 6,200.00 hot tar kettle when I first went into business. Less than one year later it was stolen from a fenced in lot which got locked every night, supposedly.

The best theft prevention is to remove ALL of the lug nuts on on of the wheels. This way when they start to pul away, blamo! The wheel dals off and hikes the front end upwards fromt he weight in the rear, and hopefully it wedges onto the hitch they hooked up with so they can't get it off.

Let the sorry S.O.B.'s get caught like that and try to get away. That was in 1985, and I'm still ticked off.

BTW, I tracked the thief down on my own from a friend who was solicited to buy a near brand new kettle in Chicago. The company he was working for bought it and transported it to Miami. I nevew did get it back though. That kind of loss when you are first starting out realy hurts.

Ed

RobertCDF

Alarms... Wheel boots... tougne locks... and a pit bull inside so if they get inside the dog kills them.

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Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
Colorado Custom Decks
Custom Composite Decks

AtlanticWBConst

Just realize that there are guys that have had their trailers peeled away like a sardine can too, and the tools taken.

The key is to take it with you whenever you can, instead of leaving it on a job.

We have several trucks that can haul our trailers, so we try to never leave them on site ....

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- Build Well -

osborn

Tattle Tale alarm.

mdshunk

If someone wants to steal your stuff, they will, no matter what you do. Throw a padlock on the trailer and the tongue, and let the insurance man take care of the rest.

When I was employed by another, we had two gang boxes and a welder stolen off of a 3rd story roof, where access was by crane only, over a 3 day weekend. If a crook is determinted, it doesn't matter what you do.

Just do what an ordinary, prudent man would do, and hope for the best. Don't tear yourself up worrying about it. That's what insurance is for.

osborn

I used to work at a place where we left trailers full of tools every night. We got robbed once a year. We eventually put joboxes in them and a tattletale alarm. Me or one of my guys would always be the one to set off the alarm(accidentally)causing the alarm company to call. One sunday night during the winter the alarm company called and said we had a breach. I told them to notify the police and raced up there. I got there in like 15 minutes. The alarm company called within 60 seconds of the breach. That was weird knowing someone was there at that second. I raced up there in 15 minutes. They got into the trailer but not the joboxes. Stole some cords and nailbags but with the alarm screeching in their ears the musta got what they could and ran.

Toothpick

Mdshunk, great post and I feel excactly the same way. About 5 years ago we had our trailer broken into twice within about 8 months and cut the rear latch both times. First time we recovered all our tools except one cordless drill, tools stolen from a couple of snot nosed kids. Second time not so lucky and the insurance man took care of us. Still leave the trailers with just the hitch and doors locked, if we are one a job that we're not to sure about we might take it home. Even though it's a sick feeling when you pull up to the job site and see you tools missing I still don't lose any sleep over it.

RCPainting

I was taking my trailer home every night after reading about several construction site thefts. I live in a rural area 50 miles from the town I do most of my work in, thru a windy mountain road. I decided to rent a storage unit in town. Best choice, I can store extra material and equipment, trailer stays warm ,unit has power.

Eric K

LoL, I have a trailer in my shop for that very reason. I left my camera in the truck but will post pics tomorrow.

Jlubb

I have used a trailer for years and have never had any equipment stolen of even messed with. I always park it in a well lit area, use good locks on all doors and use a trailer lock that i couldnt even cut off with my torch. I lost the key and tried. Just use caution and make sure you have enough insurance to cover all your equipment as well as the proof that you had the equipment for the insurance company, just in case.

tinner666

Along with a trailer lock, I cut the shaft off the appropiate sized ball and lock it in the hitch. If your traiter uses a 2" ball, and it's just locked, I think it can be stolen by hitching onto a 1 7/8" ball.

boman47k

What kind of lock is that?

Lesrace82

We had some pretty beefy locks on one of our trailers that got left at a jobsite. They took a pipewrench and just twisted the lock around until the latch on the door broke.

Later we put sliding pin locks in the ramp door that went into the frame of the trailer sides, so if you broke the latches on the back door it still couldnt be opened. And welded a cage up for the front door, so after you got the outside door open you had to get to a lock that was on the inside of the trailer that you wouldn't easily be able to get any tools too.

win4win

If they want in your trailer they will get in and you won't be able to stop them. With a little common sense, some good insurance and luck you will be okay though.

Eric K

Heres that trailer I was talking about before.

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RobertWilber

Insurance companies suck

I had a van stolen out of my driveway years ago
With every receipt for every item on all three trucks, it took two and a half years, a lawyer and a court date to get 50% of what was taken.
[I used to have every piece of paper that ever touched my fingers!]

The insurance company offer [which came the morning of the court date] was accompanied by four CARTONS of forms, deposition requests and crap that required a CPA and about 1000 notary seals to complete. My lawyer looked at it and figured it would cost me $10k to get the rest of my money.

The truck was reported stolen and went missing for two months. I got it back because it was lettered and some woman called to ask how long I was going to leave my "damned truck" parked in front of her house. There were about 40 parking tickets on it! The transmission was destroyed [burned up] and the insurance company wouldn't cover it because there were no "broken" pieces.