Asset tracking: protect your small business from thefts

Asset tracking is one of the best technologies for SMBs to protect your assets from thefts. Asset thefts are on the rise in Australia. According to the National Equipment Register ( NER), equipment and asset theft across our country is a major problem costing roughly $650 million in high-cost construction machinery stolen each year. 

In this sense, “less than 25% of stolen construction materials and equipment are recovered. The negative impact on a company of losing such expensive machinery, in addition to paralysing its activity and preventing it from providing services to its customers, damages its bottom line.

Also, cargo thefts of trailers and containers are rising and asset trackers can help locate and check how the shipment and the delivery process is running and take action in case of any disruption.

According to TAPA, cargo thefts in Australia, “are showing a significant upward trend with new record highs, driven by tactics like cutting vehicle curtains and breaking locks, and by deceptive pick-up schemes”. 

That is why more and more businesses are using asset tracking technologies to prevent potential thefts and increase the chances of recovering valuable cargo, and expensive assets, equipment, and machinery. 

Let’s dive into how asset trackers and GPS telematics solutions can help businesses like yours: 

Asset tracking for theft prevention

Asset tracking can become one of the best allies for fleet managers who are responsible for the security of assets, vehicles, equipment, and machinery, and prevention is paramount in this regard.

The potential of asset trackers with GPS fleet management systems helps to: 

Monitor assets: Know the near real-time location of trailers, powered and unpowered assets, containers, trailers, and vehicles to have a detailed overview of our business workday.

Set up zones: Create zones (geofences) to establish perimeters around equipment, assets, and machinery so that, if they move outside the established zone, you will receive an send out an email notification so that you can act quickly

Remotely tracking operations: Monitor the progress of operations and whether they are proceeding normally from loading at the warehouse to their destination, with the ability to know their location in near real-time, provide an accurate ETA to the customer, and act quickly in the event of any incident on the go.

Set up zones to notify thefts or unauthorised use 

Set up zones (geofences) around the areas where your assets and equipment are located and receive alerts to let you know if they have left the established perimeter. 

Check whether this is a scheduled activity or, if verified, whether it is something suspicious. Take immediate action to protect your assets.

Likewise, in the event of activity outside working hours, alerts can be set up to notify us that assets are being used or moved from the areas where they should normally be located. 

How to create zones on Geotab 

As we have seen, creating zones is very beneficial in terms of prevention, asset security, and control of all our company's activities.

In addition, the platform is very intuitive, and in just a few steps, you can quickly set up zones and take action to protect your assets. 

Let’s see how we can create zones on the platform: 

• Navigate: Go to the Zones page in MyGeotab. 
• Add a Zone: Click the "Add" button to create a new zone. 
• Define Perimeter: Draw the zone on the map by clicking to place points, then click the first point to complete the shape. 
• Name and Type: Give your zone a descriptive name and assign it a relevant type (e.g., Office, Customer, Home). 
• Save and publish: Assign the zone to specific assets, vehicles and user groups. 

Locate your assets in near real-time and promote recovery

One of the benefits of asset tracking is that it helps you to know the near real-time location of your assets. 

In the event of an incident such as theft, you will know the precise and accurate location of your assets, the route they are taking and where they are in almost real time.

This helps you to act quickly and provide you with this information to the authorities so that you can increase the chances of recovering the assets, equipment or vehicles.

Get insurance costs reduction with GPS asset tracking

One of the most significant operating costs for companies is insurance costs, so keeping them under control is one of the priorities of any fleet manager.

In this sense, more and more insurance companies are offering premium insurance for companies that use GPS asset tracking systems, considering them to be anti-theft device systems that reduce the risk of theft and promote greater asset recovery, thus creating a business model that is beneficial for both parties. 

Asset tracking: a smart choice for your business

Prevention is one of the most important pillars when it comes to protecting your assets by minimising the risk of theft and promoting greater recovery of them.

And this is something that insurers take into account when offering premium insurance policies with very beneficial discounts for companies like yours.

See how our technology can help you protect your assets and business. Schedule your free demo with us.