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 ©iStockphoto.com/chrissadowskiA trailer stocked with mowers, edgers, blowers and hand tools is a landscape business to-go in the eyes of a thief – just hitch and ride. Or, better yet, fire up the truck and leave with the whole get-up. What does your business do to stop motivated robbers from driving off with all of your iron?
Sometimes, even a padded lock on a trailer isn’t enough to protect against theft, says Keith Tremblay, president, Out-Back Storage, Westerly, R.I. That rivet that holds the handle to the vertical rod in a container’s hinge can be popped up. “It’s a real weak link in the securing of a container door,” Tremblay says, noting that the solution is to use a container with a lock box so bolt cutters cannot be used to break the lock.
Tremblay has heard crazy stories about theft on job sites. In his own community, there was a rash of burglaries where landscapers’ jobsite trailers were broken into and equipment stolen. One company saw its stolen equipment listed for sale on www.craigslist.org.
How does a company prevent theft? A combination of tight security, training and proper insurance can go a long way toward deterring a robber. Lawn & Landscape spoke with three landscape businesses to learn how they dealt with theft and what they do to protect their property.
Securing the site
 The high-end residential neighborhood that is home base for GrandScapes’ operation is an unlikely area for crime. But Peter Grandin, president of the Charlestown, R.I., design/build firm, can count five times that his business has been a victim of theft.
“That makes it even more shocking,” says Grandin, who installed a security system with a strobe light and siren to deter criminals from breaking and entering. Lights on all four corners of the building are on motion sensors. “We live in a town with strict lighting ordinances,” Grandin says. In other words, at night, it’s very dark. “So if someone is on my property at night, they trigger the lights.” And everyone knows that something unusual is happening.
The first two incidences of robbery involved petty cash. “We called the police,” Grandin says. “We filed a report. We talked to our insurance company and then upgraded our alarm system to what we have now.”
GrandScapes’ 1½-acre property is not fenced in despite the range of materials stored and sold there as part of its retail business: mulch, topsoil, cobblestone, palletized stone and other landscape products. “We stockpile all sorts of landscape supplies, but we’ve never really had a problem with those because they are too heavy for people to steal,” Grandin says. “I’ve never seen anyone running down the road with bluestone.”
The property has two entrances from the road, and Grandin blocks off one of those with a chain at night. The other is barricaded by four large dump trucks. Other trucks are double-parked. “Snowplow theft has been a problem in the past couple of years around here, so at night we make sure all of our plow trucks have a truck or piece of equipment in front of them so no one can steal the plows.”
On job sites, tools and equipment are locked inside enclosed trailers. All heavy equipment left on site is parked in front of the trailer to deter anyone from hitching up and driving off with GrandScapes’ wares.
“Our theory is, if someone were to break in and steal equipment, let’s make it hard enough to discourage them but not so hard that they destroy everything to get to it,” Grandin says.
Training is a significant component of GrandScapes’ theft prevention program. Crew leaders are responsible for all equipment on job sites, and the last foreman to leave the shop at night must check all of the doors, ensure the alarm is set and working properly and put up the chain to close off the driveway.
But physical protection isn’t enough. GrandScapes carries a $2 million general liability policy and an additional $1 million dollar umbrella policy. The company’s inland marine policy covers small equipment and larger equipment, such as excavators, skid-steer loaders and mowers, are insured separately.
It pays to cover yourself in case of theft – no matter where your business is located, Grandin says. So far, the security system is working and Grandin’s insurance provides peace of mind. It has been eight years since the company has had an incident, and Grandin is fortunate that equipment has never been stolen from his property.
“We are very lucky,” he says. “Because the truth is, if someone wants it bad enough, they’ll take it.”
Rest Insured
 The thieves that broke into Kenson Landscaping by prying open the garage door drove off with Ken Locsei’s truck, trailer and an estimated $20,000 in equipment, including a 60-inch Scag mower, two Toro walk-behinds, several string trimmers and a few backpack blowers. Essentially, the crooks took most of Locsei’s iron and pulled away with an entire landscape business.
All this happened one weekend last fall. “I had nothing to work with,” Locsei says, explaining that his wife discovered the scene on a Sunday morning when she dropped by the office to pick up the mail.
“The door was wide open, so we called the police.” The shop has a security system, but that didn’t deter the derelicts.
And, that wasn’t the first time Locsei’s shop was hit by robbers. About six years ago, his shop was broken into and Locsei did not have insurance to cover the damage. “After that, I got premium insurance so everything would be covered,” he says.
Though, Locsei says he is having trouble getting the insurance company to cooperate. That’s why he decided to hire an attorney.
“They didn’t want to cover the truck and trailer because they said I canceled the insurance when I didn’t,” he says, adding that he had cancelled insurance on an older truck. “They were giving me a hard time.”
As of press time, Locsei was still waiting for a check to cover the truck, trailer and other equipment.
The insurance company did replace the hydrostatic mower valued at $12,000, so Locsei could get back to work. “That was three weeks after the fact,” he says.
For now, Locsei is plowing snow, so he can afford to do without his full fleet.
But that won’t be the case come spring. Locsei was also frustrated with the police report, which he says didn’t list everything stolen.
“It was like pulling teeth to get them to fingerprint,” he says, noting that his truck was eventually found, but damaged. “We didn’t find anything else.”
 Locsei was surprised his operation was robbed twice – his shop is located close to a minor league baseball field on the outskirts of Cleveland.
But soon after his incident, Locsei heard about another landscape theft.
“A landscaper in our area had his truck parked out on a job and while he was in the back yard cleaning up leaves, (Robbers) found the truck and drove away,” he says.
His advice: Be aware of your surroundings and make sure to secure your property – that includes all of your trucks and trailers.
Get covered
 Enclosed trailers are the key to Envisioning Green’s safety program. Over the years, the company has gradually transitioned from its open trailers to 28-foot enclosed trailers that fit riding mowers, hand-held equipment, tools and even a microwave. “It’s a workshop on wheels,” says Steven Johns, president of the Alton, Ill.-based firm.
Johns has been pretty lucky. Several years ago, a string trimmer and edger were stolen from an open trailer – impetus for the switch to enclosed models. “It could have been worse,” Johns says. But still, he was out about $600. “The equipment was just taken right off the trailer while the guys were at lunch,” he says.
Now, trailers are locked while on job sites, and employees are trained that equipment security is part of their job at the company. “It all starts with the owner communicating to employees how important (security) is,” Johns says. “I’m not at every job site every day, and I shouldn’t have to be.”
Meanwhile, each crew has its own set of locks, so crews don’t have access to all trailers, in case an employee attempts to steal. Johns doesn’t like to think about this worst-case scenario, but he realizes that one can’t be too careful. Also, Johns keeps several extra locks at the shop in case a trailer lock is broken or damaged. “If we lose a lock, we have a replacement right then and there,” he says.
Back at the home office, Johns installed a security system about a year and a half ago that costs about $30 per month and includes motion sensors in the warehouse and door trips. Each employee has his or her own key, and no two keys are the same.
 The security system tracks which keys are used and when. “We can see who has accessed the building,” he says.
Envisioning Green wraps these security measures with an umbrella insurance policy that covers small equipment. Large equipment like skid-steer loaders is insured separately.
To keep the insurance company updated on equipment purchases and office updates, such as new computers or enhancements, Johns takes photographs periodically and e-mails them to his representative at the company.
“That way the insurance company knows what our office looks like just in case something was to happen,” he says. You should also help employees understand that stealing is not tolerated and it’s their job to help protect the company’s equipment.
“You come to work on time, you complete your projects for the day and, at the end of the day, you lock everything up,” Johns says.
The author is a frequent contributor to Lawn & Landscape.
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