Equipment hire yards hold some of the most portable valuable property in Melbourne: machines worth tens of thousands of dollars, designed to be loaded onto a truck and moved. That's exactly what makes them a target. A June incident in Laverton North showed how quickly it can happen, and how it can unravel.
What police reported
According to a Victoria Police release, at about 1.45am on Friday 12 June police were told offenders were using an angle grinder to force open the gate of a business on Little Boundary Lane in Laverton North.
The Police Air Wing then tracked two vehicles travelling together, a Fuso tow truck and a Mitsubishi Triton ute, which police said were both stolen. A piece of plant from an equipment hire business was found on one of the vehicles. The first version of the release described it as a bobcat, and a later version as a forklift.
Police allege the pair stopped at a fast-food car park on the Western Ring Road. Units laid stop sticks near the freeway exit and the truck was stopped. Police allege the driver then switched to the ute, which was pulled over on Boundary Road in Truganina, where two men were arrested. Police later said charges had been laid. Those allegations have not been tested in court.
Three tools, each doing one job
The method described is simple and effective:
- An angle grinder deals with the gate. Chains, padlocks and most gate latches give way to a cutting disc in minutes.
- A tow truck deals with the plant. A tilt tray can winch a small machine aboard without needing its keys or anyone who knows how to drive it.
- A second vehicle provides a lookout, an escort or, as police allege happened here, a way out if the truck is stopped.
The weak points in that plan are time and access. The thieves need the tow truck to reverse up close to the machine, and they need enough minutes inside to load it. Most yard security focuses on the gate. Once the gate is cut, there is often nothing stopping a truck driving straight to whatever it wants.
Defence in depth for plant yards
We haven't seen the Laverton North yard and aren't commenting on its security. For equipment yards generally, the most effective setups add layers behind the gate rather than relying on it:
- Removable bollards just inside the vehicle gate. If the gate is cut, a truck still can't drive in. Staff lift them out in the morning and lock them back in at close. Heavy steel posts set in concrete take far longer to cut than a chain or a gate latch.
- A bollard ring around high-value plant parking. Parking compact machines inside a line of bollards means a tow truck can't reverse up to them. Loading has to happen across a gap, which is slow and difficult.
- Plant parked away from the gate. The machines nearest the entrance are the easiest to take. Moving the most valuable items deeper into the yard buys time.
- Machine-level measures. Isolator switches, removed keys and GPS trackers don't stop a machine being winched onto a truck, but trackers help with recovery.
- Monitored cameras covering the gate. In this case, police were alerted while the gate was being cut. Early notice is what made the follow possible.
Why stop sticks shouldn't be the plan
This story ended with arrests and, it appears, the equipment recovered, because police were alerted early and the Air Wing was available. That's a good outcome, but it isn't one a business can plan around. Many yard thefts aren't discovered until the morning, by which time the plant can be a long way away.
The goal of physical security in a yard is to make the job take longer than an offender is willing to spend. A grinder through a gate takes a few minutes. A grinder through a gate, followed by a row of steel bollards anchored into concrete, followed by a machine that can't be reached by the truck, takes long enough that most won't try.
Questions for yard managers
- If your gate were cut tonight, what would stop a truck driving straight to your most valuable machine?
- Which items could be winched onto a tilt tray without keys?
- Do your cameras alert someone in real time, or just record?
- Can your daily routine handle removing and replacing bollards at the gate? If not, they won't be used.