Into the Clouds:
Based in Tavistock, Ontario, Apple Home Builders is a home building service that has been providing new home construction, home renovations, and home additions for over 20 years.
As a business that primarily operates on job sites, Apple Home Builders do not always return equipment and assets to the yard at the end of each day.
Apple Home Builders have experienced several thefts in the past including stolen vehicles, tools, and trailers while using security measures such as tongue locks, blockades, and fencing. These traditional techniques proved inadequate security measures.
Apple Home Builders co-owner Dave Murray began to look for a solution that allowed them to monitor and track their assets in real-time to prevent theft and facilitate recovery.
After extensive research, Mr Murray chose to proceed with CloudHawk and implemented their GPS tracking solution across his fleet. The installation, performed by his partner, was quick and within hours their construction assets were online, visible, and being monitored. What stood out to him about CloudHawk was the unique ability to utilize cell tower signals without requiring an additional data plan – a feature non-existent among alternative solutions.
Dave Murray and his team leveraged the advanced features of CloudHawk GPS tracking to boost operational efficiency and minimize downtime. With the ability to pinpoint idle assets and equipment swiftly, they were able to forecast arrival times at job sites precisely, which helped Apple Home Builders maintain their project schedules.
As Dave Murray explains, “It’s [CloudHawk GPS tracking] very simple. I have a list of my devices on my phone and can quickly check each one to see where our stuff is and when it’s moving.”
Earlier this year, Apple Home Builders found themselves relying on CloudHawk GPS tracking solutions when one of their excavators was stolen from a job site in Tavistock. Thanks to CloudHawk, in total, over $500,000 worth of stolen equipment was recovered at the site. Here is how:
With geofencing set up around the town of Tavistock, CloudHawk sent out an automated alert to Dave Murray after detecting that an asset was moved outside of the designated area. This notification allowed Dave Murray and the authorities to respond quickly and recover the stolen asset ‘within the hour’.
The absence of CloudHawk GPS tracking could have resulted in the stolen asset never being found, imposing a significant financial burden on Apple Home Builders for replacement. Dave Murray estimates, “It would probably have cost around $80,000 to replace it brand new.”
Furthermore, in terms of time lost, Dave Murray elaborated, “Insurance companies make you wait 14 days before they pay out. So that would have been an additional 14 days and thousands of dollars lost if we didn’t have that piece of equipment to use.”
Once notified that an asset had breached the geofenced area, Dave Murray was able to pinpoint its precise location.
With this critical information, Dave Murray coordinated with law enforcement, guiding them to the exact location of the asset for recovery. Reflecting on the experience, Dave Murray said, “I could see that the asset was moving just north of Tavistock and informed law enforcement of the address. When I arrived at the location, the stolen asset was exactly where my portal indicated it would be.”
To Dave and the law enforcement’s surprise, during the bust they recovered around half a million dollars’ worth of stolen goods, including trailers and construction equipment, in addition to Apple Home Builders $80,000 excavator.
All the stolen property that was recovered, worth $500,000, was successfully returned to its owners.
In this instance, tracking data proved to be invaluable. The device’s real-time location tracking offered insight into the asset’s location at a specific moment, and GPS data provided a comprehensive view of the thief’s movement, details that would help lead to the recovery of the stolen property, and notably, the solution led to the retrieval of additional stolen goods from the same location.
Dave Murray’s testimony highlights the effectiveness of CloudHawk’s GPS tracking solution. He remarked, “My experience was very positive. I was very impressed. When the police arrived, I was showing them the app on my phone as they were surprised at how quickly I found the location.”
With CloudHawk’s GPS tracking solutions in place, Apple Home Builders were able to recover their own equipment valued at around $80,000 as well as other stolen construction equipment, leading to the total recovery of over half a million dollars’ in total. This not only ensured safe and swift recovery of assets but also minimized downtime on the construction project.
To learn more about how CloudHawk’s asset-tracking solutions can protect your valuable equipment, get in touch with one of our specialists.