Stolen vehicles are a top concern for businesses large or small. Although more is known about where thieves might attack and what they’ll target, their approaches are diverse. Our guide to stolen vehicle recovery systems explores how technology can help you regain your assets.

Cargo theft is surging, according to CargoNet, which reported 1,059 theft events in 2020 compared with 758 in 2019 and 797 in 2018. The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) estimates that cargo theft in the United States is a $15 billion to $35 billion industry and cargo theft usually doesn’t end in convictions. Your guide to stolen vehicle recovery systems can help you regain control.

What is a stolen vehicle recovery system?

First, we need to address what a vehicle recovery device is. In this article, we’ll focus on GPS tracking systems. Without this technology installed, you’re asking law enforcement to find your vehicle using only the vehicle identification number (VIN), license plate, and vehicle description. With GPS tracking, you can track where the vehicle is in real time.

A vehicle recovery system helps minimize financial losses by making recovery more likely and expediting the timeline.

How does a stolen vehicle recovery system work?

The GPS-based stolen vehicle recovery system sends a signal to fleet GPS tracking software that can pinpoint the asset’s coordinates. That can help police locate and recover the vehicle.

Better still, you can also get stolen vehicle recovery systems that use GPS technology to alert fleet managers that a truck is leaving a geofenced area. The commercial vehicle owner who only has drivers on routes in Georgia, for example, could set up alerts notifying them of a truck crossing state lines.

Tip: When it comes to prevention, it also helps to install alarm surveillance systems and ensure your perimeter, entrances, building doors, and windows are all well lit. Don’t ignore alarms either.

Benefits of Stolen Vehicle Recovery Systems

Vehicle recovery systems, through the aid of GPS, are reliable, easy to install, cost-efficient, and integrable with other software and devices.

The GPS vehicle recovery system also offers the advantage of:

  • Timely alerts notifying managers of vehicles leaving designated areas
  • Increased odds of recovering the vehicle with tracking of coordinates, which can minimize loss; even if the cargo is gone, the truck is recovered
  • Improved driver safety in the case of breakdowns or vehicle jacking

Are there different types of stolen vehicle recovery systems?

There are many types of stolen vehicle recovery systems. Your electronic GPS recovery system could be manufacturer installed or a standalone system.

Motive’s stolen vehicle recovery system offers GPS tracking to help prevent vehicle theft and increase the likelihood of recovery. Plus, Motive’s dashboard cameras provide detailed data about the theft as well as other driving incidents.

The very presence of a dashcam can act as a deterrent. Motive’s live streaming dashcam can also improve driver safety and support coaching efforts. The dashcam data supports compliance with federal and state regulations as well. Drivers can be notified if they’re risking HOS violations.

Can GPS tracking help in stolen vehicle recovery?

Easily installing a tracker in your vehicle and connecting the software can improve driver productivity, encourage safer driving habits, and increase on-time delivery. Additionally, GPS tracking helps with recovering stolen vehicles. Each tracked vehicle can be monitored in the vehicle fleet management software, on a map, and you can set up alerts to notify safety personnel of any potential problems. Truck doesn’t arrive on time? You’ll know to investigate ASAP.

How effective is GPS in stolen vehicle recovery cases? GPS fleet tracking helps you provide more data and act more quickly. If you’ve seen any crime drama on television, you know that time is of the essence.

Can vehicle recovery devices reduce insurance claim costs?

Stolen vehicle recovery systems can make a difference with insurers. With a vehicle recovery system in place, you can also minimize losses. You’re more likely to recover the vehicle without losing as many hours of productivity. Plus, insurers are less likely to have to pay for a complete loss of cargo and vehicle. Protecting all vehicles in a commercial fleet with trailer and asset tracking technology brings down the business’s insurance rates because the insurer can predict lower claims.

Are vehicle recovery systems easy to install?

Vehicle recovery systems are developed for easy installation. Motive’s Asset Gateway Solar can be installed in under 10 minutes without a mechanic’s help. There’s a solar charge option, and you can install it using a seven-way trailer cable.

You may also be wondering if you can integrate a stolen vehicle recovery system with other devices and software. The answer is yes. Digital transformation makes it simple today to configure the application programming interface to allow our technology to communicate with your systems.

How Motive helps with stolen vehicle recovery

Motive’s stolen vehicle recovery system uses GPS tracking devices and software in addition to onboard cameras and video.

With GPS tracking, fleet owners can set up geofence perimeters and expect email alerts including the time, date, geofence category, geofence crossed, driver’s name, and vehicle ID. Meanwhile, the same GPS tools can improve truck navigation to cut costly routes and improve driver efficiency.

The onboard cameras offer real-time remote monitoring of vehicles and loads. The video footage can provide evidence from multiple viewpoints for use in insurance claims and police reports.

Learn more about Motive’s real-time GPS fleet tracking software and see why it was selected as a Category Leader in GPS Tracking software by GetApp. Sign up for a free demo today!