Asset-Link^TM Helps Texas Police Break Truck Theft Ring

Product combining GPS and wireless technologies is ideal for tracking valuable assets

Texas police have recovered more than US$2.7 million of stolen goods while breaking up a Dallas-area truck theft ring, thanks to Asset-Link ^TM asset-tracking hardware from CSI Wireless Inc.

"This technology is the wave of the future," said Texas State Police Lieutenant Tim Stewart, who is currently assigned to the North Texas Auto Theft Task Force, which includes police officials from Dallas County, Denton County, Collin County and Ellis County.

Lt. Stewart and his colleagues borrowed Asset-Link units from San Antonio-based HeavyTrack and Holt Caterpillar for their task force operations. HeavyTrack, which specializes in anti-theft tracking services for heavy construction equipment, is a supplier to Holt Caterpillar, and has been buying asset-tracking products from CSI Wireless since 2000. HeavyTrack's application program, back-end and Web interface are key components of the asset-tracking system supplied to the North Texas Auto Theft Task Force.

The task force obtained court orders authorizing police to install Asset-Link units on suspects' vehicles. The units led police to several sites where they recovered stolen trucks, trailers and merchandise.

"We've recovered US$2.7 million worth of items so far, and the total keeps rising," Lt. Stewart said. "We've recovered more than 24 truck tractors and 26 trailers, plus some cargo - including furniture, electronics, barbecues, clothing and ceiling fans - using the Asset-Link units."

Truck and trailer thefts have become so rampant in the U.S. that Stewart said millions of dollars of vehicles and merchandise go missing each week, "including two or three loaded tractors just in the Dallas-Fort Worth area."

Trucking companies wanting to stop being victimized are phoning Stewart to express their frustration and ask for advice. He encourages them to consider asset-tracking systems such as those available from CSI Wireless: "It's the ideal way to monitor an asset's movements."

Thanks to another Asset-Link unit installed by HeavyTrack on a Caterpillar 416D backhoe loader, staff at Holt Caterpillar's Dallas/Fort Worth offices were able to recover the 20,000-pound unit near Jackson, Mississippi, after it was stolen and transported 400 miles (600 km) from a Dallas-area job site.

When police tracked the backhoe loader to Jackson, they discovered another piece of stolen construction equipment. The two items were worth US $140,000.