ECM Theft Is Skyrocketing—Here’s How to Stay Ahead
This post is part of a series sponsored by IAT Insurance Group.
Late at night in the Fall of last year, thieves stole 13 ECM units from a fleet of commercial trucks in Chicago. While cameras recorded the theft, nobody checked the feed during the hour-long crime. As a result, the thieves got away with roughly $100,000 of stolen goods.
An ECM, or Electronic Control Module, is a computer in a truck’s engine that monitors and controls its transmission, braking, and other systems necessary for the truck’s basic operation. Trucks won’t 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 around $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 commission. A shortage of replacement ECMs only adds to the problem.
ECM theft is growing in frequency nationwide, particularly in Freightliner trucks, as it takes just seven minutes to remove an ECM from under a Freightliner’s dashboard. Non-Freightliners’ ECMs are harder to access, but thieves have developed methods to steal them as well.
Fortunately, ECM theft prevention is simpler than you might expect. Taking the right precautions can potentially save your business thousands of dollars in business interruption and direct financial loss.
Protecting your business from ECM theft
Stay a step ahead of ECM thieves by protecting your fleet with these four measures:
Secure 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 manner that makes accessing the cab more difficult. For instance, park close to a wall or another vehicle.
Hire security for the holidays when more trucks are idle and on site. Thieves often target commercial trucks over holidays when they know they won’t be in use with less on-site security.
Install cameras alerting your business to activity in your yard during non-operating hours. Hire someone to monitor it during those high-risk periods and alert authorities when they detect suspicious behavior.
Keep parked vehicles in well-lit areas with limited access to unauthorized parties. Consider installing fences around your lot and using a gated access system.
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 off guard by using an alternative anti-theft bolt.
Anti-theft bolts are often made to order. Standard tools won’t work on them, so it’s harder for thieves to steal ECMS secured by them.
Involve law enforcement
Keep law enforcement in the loop if ECM theft occurs. The police can investigate and potentially recover the stolen ECMs if you alert them quickly enough. It also helps in tracking patterns of these thefts, which allows law enforcement to better allocate resources toward preventing them.
Word gets around quickly among thieves. If they know your business is reporting every incident of ECM theft, they might move on to an easier target.
Call Freightliner
Here’s another potential deterrent against future crimes if you’ve been hit by ECM thieves: Freightliner can remotely disable your ECMs so they can’t be sold. Call 1-800-385-4357 to report the theft. All you need is the truck’s VIN.
Remotely disabling the ECM renders it nonfunctional. This makes it useless to the thief and decreases the chances of them targeting your fleet again.
ASK A LOSS CONTROL REPRESENTATIVE
Have a question on how to mitigate risk? Email losscontroldirect@iatinsurance.com for a chance to see your question answered in a future blog.
By Tom MacCallum
Topics
Fraud
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