ECM -Theft Skyrocketing – here is how to stay in front of

This post is part of a series of sponsored by Iat Insurance Group.

Late in the evening of the fall of last year, Thieves stole 13 ECM units from a fleet of commercial trucks in Chicago. While cameras registered the theft, no one checked the feed during the hour -long crime. As a result, the thieves dropped away by approx. $ 100,000 of stolen items.

An ECM or electronic control module is a computer in a truck’s engine that monitors and controls its transmission, braking and other systems needed for the basic operation of the truck. Trucks do not start without one and the costs are high to replace. A new ECM can take up to 30 hours of labor to install and costs about $ 9,000 in materials alone. The real cost of ECM theft must also include lost revenue due to downtime while the truck is out of service. A lack of replacement of ECMs only adds the problem.

ECM theft grows in frequency nationwide, especially in Freightliner trucks, as it takes only seven minutes to remove an ECM from under a Freightliner’s dashboard. Non-Freightliners ECMs are harder to access, but thieves have also developed methods to steal them.

Fortunately, ECM theft prevention is simpler than you would expect. Taking the right precautions can potentially save your business thousands of dollars in business interruption and direct financial loss.

Protecting your business against ECM -Theft

Stay one step ahead of ECM thieves by protecting your fleet with these four goals:

1. Attach your vehicles

Consider adding these basic security measures to your fleet:

• Lock your vehicles when not in use, especially overnight.
• Park your trucks in a way that makes access to the cab more difficult. Park, for example, close to a wall or other vehicle.
• Rent security for the holidays when several trucks are inactive and on site. Thieves are often targeted at commercial trucks over holidays when they know they will not be in use with less security on site.
• Install cameras that warn your business for activity in your garden during non-operating hours. Hire someone to monitor it during the high -risk periods and warn the authorities when they discover suspicious behavior.
• Keep parked vehicles in well -lit areas with limited access to unauthorized parties. Consider installing fences around your lot and using a closed access system.

2. Use anti-theft bolts

Four bolts secure Freightliner Ecms. Thieves expect to find these standard bolts and come prepared with the right tools for easy removal. Catch them away from guard by using an alternative anti-theft bolt.

Anti-the-the-the-the-the-the-the-way bolts are often made to order. Standard tools don’t work on them, so it’s harder for twenty to steal ECMs secured by them.

3. Involves law enforcement

Keep law enforcement in the loop if ECM theft occurs. Police can investigate and potentially recover the stolen ECMs if you warn them quickly enough. It also helps to trace patterns of these thefts that allow law enforcement to better allocate resources to prevent them.

Words come quickly among thieves. If they know your business is reporting any incident of ECM theft, they can move on to a lighter target.

4. Call Freightliner

Here is another potential deterrent to future crimes if you have been affected by ECM twenty: Freightliner can disable your ECMs so that they cannot be sold. Call 1-800-385-4357 to report the theft. All you need is the truck’s wine.

Remote deactivation of ECM does not make it -Functional. This makes it useless for the thief and reduces the chances of being targeting your fleet again.

Ask a Representative of Tab Control

Do you have a question about how to reduce the risk? E -Mail tabcontroldirect@iatinsurance.com For a chance to see your question answered in a future blog.

By Tom Maccallum

Topics
Fraud