New research has shown that one in 10 second hand trailers currently on the market are stolen vehicles. The shocking statistic has been revealed by The Equipment Register (TER), Europe’s largest database of stolen plant and equipment.
TER said that 10% of checks undertaken on its database match stolen items. The TER database includes 1.6 million items, of which 850,000 are trailers. Its findings support data from the latest NFU Mutual Rural Crime Report, which found that the cost of rural crime rose sharply by 22% in 2022, reaching a total estimate of £49.5 million insured. Trailer thefts saw the biggest increase when compared with other types of rural crime, with figures up 66%.
Treve Jenkyn, the Data Director at TER, says that trailer owners are facing increasing obstacles to prevent theft.
“Thieves are using technologies such as drones and trackers to identify trailers to steal, even when they are supposedly stored securely on a farm’s premises,” he said. “Thieves put their trackers on target trailers to identify location for easy theft. They are also using social media sites like Facebook Marketplace to sell stolen equipment.”
Recovering stolen horse trailers
Valerie Isted, who owns Equinity Trailers, has a fleet of 60 Ifor Williams trailers for short- and long-term hires that are all registered with The Equipment Register. Valerie explained how The Equipment Register has helped with the recovery of two of their trailers.
“We have registered all of our trailers with The Equipment Register and this action has thwarted the theft of two of them,” she said. “Every time someone runs a check against one of our trailers, The Equipment Register contacts ourselves as the registered owners to let us know.
“On one recent occasion we were alerted to a check on one of our Ifor Williams trailers that was being advertised for sale on Facebook Marketplace in Blackpool, some 300 miles away. Although the thieves had caused some damage to the trailer’s chassis, we were delighted to be able to recover our property and prevent it being sold on.
“The service we have received from The Equipment Register is outstanding. Rural crime is on the rise, and it is essential that any would-be purchaser looking to buy a trailer checks The Equipment Register’s database to ensure that the trailer is not stolen. We would also recommend that trailer owners make sure they have their trailer registered pre-loss to maximise the chances of its recovery post theft.”
The report found that soaring second-hand market values and higher finance costs were fuelling the trend for thieves to target trailers to sell them to Eastern Europe. They are often moved via Ireland since the UK and Ireland allow trailers to be registered with the towing number, not their own registration plates.
“Crime is controlled by organised and often international gangs, and world events and new illicit markets have an impact on the demand for stolen kit,” Jim McLaren, NFU Mutual Chairman, said in the report.
Protect your trailer
TER shared the following tips for trailer owners to help them protect their property:
- A good quality hitch and wheel lock on the driver’s side that covers the trailer’s coupling handle and head is essential as this slows the thief down and makes more noise when being removed; the better quality of lock, the longer it takes for it to be angle ground through and it makes more noise.
- A wheel clamp that covers the wheel nuts are generally better than ones that don’t as they prevent the wheel being removed.
- Always park your trailer where it is least visible to the street, if a thief cannot see it they will not steal it.
- Never park the trailer with the tow hitch facing the road, park it against a wall or fence and/or block it using another vehicle.
- Use a chain to secure the trailer to a post or wall-mounting.
- If you are not using the trailer for a period of time, consider removing one of the wheels and/or removing the hitch head and jockey wheel so it cannot be moved or towed.
- Register your trailer details with TER-Europe and keep a record of the details – you will need the trailer’s VIN number and drawbar code if it has one. If it is stolen at a later date you can call TER and ask them to mark it as stolen – when it gets checked by a potential buyer it will flag up and you have a chance of getting it back.
- Consider installing CCTV at low level to help catch vehicle registration numbers of offending vehicles.
- Perimeter security – install heavy gates that are kept locked at night – electric gates are often better than a metal 5 bar gate. Ensure any gates cannot be lifted off their hinges easily.
- Install ground anchors – whilst these require extensive digging to pour concrete into the ground, a ground anchor and a thick heavy duty chain and padlock wrapped around the A frame will discourage thieves.
- Metal security posts securely bolted into concrete hard standing is another option – but there shouldn’t be room to get the trailer out in between them.
- Get a tracker with a contract SIM card that you don’t have to keep topping up and hide it somewhere in your trailer. This can help recover your trailer when it is stolen by giving a precise GPS location. Trailers are often stolen and then dumped somewhere for a couple of days to see if anyone comes to get it back. You do have to remember to keep the battery charged as trailers generally don’t have a power supply.
- Be aware of unusual activity around your trailer – would-be thieves have been known to plant trackers, use drones or enter yards under false pretences in order to scout out locations for trailer theft.
