AMI Dumper Recovery Leads Police to Stolen Plant Worth Over £100,000

The recovery record of AMI’s Nexis plant tracking systems has been superbly demonstrated by the successful retrieval of a stolen 1 Ton Terex Dumper worth £15,000 in Cheshire, whilst also leading the Police to several other items of construction machinery stored in an isolated rural area including a Bobcat Excavator, a Trailer and a Volvo Digger.

Together, the haul of recovered plant equipment is valued at over £100,000 and has been retrieved following a successful cross country operation involving AMI, a major plant hire company and both Cheshire and South Yorkshire Police. The recovery commenced when AMI’s customer reported the theft of a Terex Dumper from a construction site in Sheffield. Luckily, the equipment was protected against theft with an AMI Nexis battery-operated tracking device utilising advanced GSM and RF technology and it was also registered with CESAR (The Construction & Agricultural Equipment Security and Registration Scheme).

AMI’s monitoring station utilised the company’s web-based, real-time software platform AMI Nexis to locate the equipment and could immediately see that the stolen Dumper had been moved to an area in Cheshire. AMI’s finder network was despatched to locate the equipment and the tracker’s RF signal led the finder to a remote country road, eventually leading to some land near to a manor house under renovation in Aston By Budworth, near Northwich. Both the customer and the Police were immediately informed and the Terex Dumper was recovered alongside three other items of construction equipment subsequently found to be stolen. Enquiries are continuing with the Police.

AMI’s Operations Director Peter Stockton said: “Plant theft is one of the biggest problems in the construction industry and it proves very costly and inconvenient for many companies. It is extremely expensive to replace large items of plant machinery and equipment theft can significantly increase insurance premiums. This recovery really does show the true value of our asset tracking systems in terms of helping AMI customers to recover their own equipment, whilst also assisting the Police to recover other items of stolen plant machinery. Over £245 million worth of customer assets are now fitted with AMI Nexis asset tracking and equipment theft systems, as they offer extended battery life more than 30% greater than alternative products and are amongst the smallest, most covert devices in the industry, making them far more difficult for thieves to locate.”

AMI offers a number of state-of-the-art tracking solutions and fleet management systems for applications including plant and vehicle tracking. One of the company’s latest innovations is the AMI Nexis AT5, a self-contained, battery operated tracking device which utilises state-of-the-art GPS, GSM and RF technology. Reporting to and visible via the AMI Nexis Software Platform 24/7, the AT5 is lightweight, small sized (21 x 55 x 52mm) and can be concealed almost anywhere on any asset. Via its advanced battery management software, the unit has the capacity to last up to 15 years and it is backed by IP68 waterproof rating, ensuring it is robust and heavily protected. The device has the ability to be traced both outdoors and indoors even in very remote locations. In situations where GPS is unavailable, the device relays GSM cell site positions and the internal RF beacon can be activated to assist in locating stolen assets.