Since the last major downturn in oil prices, the Grande Prairie Beacon News reported investigations into the theft of $70,000 in oilfield equipment. The Edmonton Journal reported in the same year that two men were facing charges for allegedly stealing $250,000 of gear, from ATVs and snowmobiles to tools and industrial electronics. A disgruntled oilfield worker in Fort McMurray was charged with stealing heavy steel oil-rig mats worth almost $267,000 from a well site. The list goes on.
Over the last decade, the oil industry in Alberta has come up with low-tech ways to stymie thieves. Some operators move their equipment from remote locations to a busier yard where it can be under constant surveillance. According to one industry expert, some site supervisors “weld the doors shut or park pieces of equipment so tightly side-by-side that a person can’t squeeze in.”
The problem with these measures is that they interfere with the most efficient way to run the business. Who wants to cut open the doors of a shed when generators and pumps are needed … and vehicles that have been moved hundreds of miles may be required back at the same location in just a few weeks.
The fact of the matter is that not all equipment is going to be stolen. So why disrupt your operations unnecessarily? The solution is to use the sophisticated GPS tracking hardware and software provided by Geoforce Canada, in conjunction with conventional security.
Geoforce has developed the industry’s smallest GPS tracker which can be attached to almost any piece of valuable equipment, whether it’s on wheels or not — so you can tag everything from light towers to gensets. If the Geoforce tracker moves out of its designated zone (using geofencing), supervisors will be alerted. You can alert the RCMP and tell them where the unit is located. There’s nowhere to run — Geoforce trackers are tracked by satellite and cellular so they are never out of range.
Geoforce has a client that was losing 30 oil tanks a year at $8,000 per tank. They fitted GT0 trackers to all 950 assets and are ahead $240,000 a year.
Theft is scary — but fear of theft may be a bigger overhead than theft itself. GPS-enabled equipment can now tell you whether it needs maintenance, or if it is running at all. What’s more, with Geoforce software, you can pinpoint if your own employees are ‘hoarding’ equipment just in case they might need it, even though your operation needs it elsewhere.
The moral here is that thefts shouldn’t force you to run your business inefficiently. Using Trakopolis, Geoforce’s proprietary tracking and analytics software, you can be vigilant but you can be smart at the same time.
For more information about how Geoforce can reduce thefts, contact canadasales@geoforce.com
