JERSEY CITY, NJ and DES PLAINES, IL - Only 19 percent of heavy equipment stolen was recovered in 2010, and most annual estimates of the cost of equipment theft are in the $400 million range. That's according to the Equipment Theft Report released by the National Equipment Register (NER), a division of ISO Crime Analytics, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).  

The report focuses on what types of equipment are most likely to be stolen and recovered and where in the country thefts and recoveries occur. It draws on data from the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), the NICB, and NER.

In 2010, the NCIC received 13,374 theft reports. In descending order, the five states with the most incidents of heavy-equipment theft were Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina. Together, those five states accounted for 43 percent of total equipment theft. Rounding out the top 10 were California, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Ohio. The top 10 states accounted for 61 percent of all thefts.

Theft levels correspond to the amount of equipment in a particular area--the states with the highest volume of construction and agriculture reported the largest number of thefts. However, sometimes theft hot spots emerge when an organized group of thieves and fences is working in a particular area, the report stated.

Most often, equipment is stolen from a work site, which usually has lower levels of physical security than an insured's premises, which is often a fenced-in compound.

The types of equipment thieves are most likely to steal are determined by value and mobility. The most common types stolen are:

• Mower, riding or garden tractor - 47 percent

• Loaders - 18 percent

• Tractor, wheeled or tracked - 13 percent

Theft levels correspond with peak construction periods, with the highest number of thefts reported in the summer months, according to the report.

View the entire 2010 Equipment Theft Report here.