Kosran News

Kosran foils thieves determined to steal a Cat 301

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

Kosran’s ECV proved to be an insurmountable barrier to thieves set on stealing a Cat 301.6C belonging to Hewden and on hire to CIK Construction of Basildon, Essex. The £12,000 machine was parked for the weekend at St Alban & St Stephen School when it was attacked by the thieves who spliced the loom and hot wired its electrical system. However, they weren’t prepared for Kosran’s electro-mechanical valve (that cuts the diesel supply and requires an electronic code to open) which is integrated into the engine systems and secured with a hardened steel shield, and so left empty handed. Insurer Allianz estimates the cost to the contractor of each plant theft is £7,500 due to the hassle and disruption to business, downtime, idle crew and cross-hire charges. By Colin Sowman of ContractJournal.com.

EJK Building Contractors endorse Kosran

Fri, 7 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST

Testimonial from a Building Contractor Credit where credit is due, Kosran's brochure wasn't just bull, it really did save me £300 per machine. I saved £300 per machine on my insurance. I lost machine before fitting Kosran and now I know that my machines are safe and secure for very little outlay. Signed: Mr Eddie Kidd

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Irish visit

Wed, 1 Jun 2011 00:00:00 EST

Many of our customers have Irish roots – we have to share our joy with you. The visit to the Republic of Ireland by Queen Elizabeth 11 and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh over four days in May, was an event which captured the heart of everyone in Ireland. Her Majesty the Queen, an exceptional octogenarian, was most gracious and relaxed and she and her husband seemed to truly enjoy the four day visit. She addressed a Dinner in Dublin Castle, the former centre of British rule in Ireland and in her opening words spoke “Gaelic” addressing the audience as ‘A Cairde – Friends’. The whole event was timely and Her Majesty acknowleded the past difficulties of 800 years of colonisation (which ended nearly 100 years ago); the success of the peace process in Northern Ireland; and went on to discuss “our mutual ability to bow to the past but not to be bound by it”. The success of the visit which included a visit to County Cork formerly known as the ‘Rebel County’ – was such that, County Cork has now been rebranded as ‘The Royal County’. Cork based Minister of State Kathleen Lynch said the greatest benefit from the visit would be felt by the Irish community living in Britain who, she said ‘had lived for 30 years in the shadow of the troubles’. The visit was not about a “doffing of the cap or a bending of the knee’” she said , but, rather was a demonstration of the increasingly warm and friendly relations existing between equals. “People are happy, not just with the Queen’s performance but also with our performance. Britain is our nearest neighbour, home to most of our emigrants, our biggest trading partner. Up until now, we couldn’t do this. Today I think we have moved on and that’s very welcome. On Monday May 23rd Her Majesty back in the UK made a trip to the Chelsea Flower Show when asked by an Irish Reporter if she had enjoyed her visit to Ireland, Her Majesty responded ‘It was brilliant’!

Kosran feature in CPA magazine

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Kosran has recently featured in the CPA bulletin online magazine, the leading plant hire association monthly bulletin. ’Kosran supply the added value your contractor customers want. It pays for itself in 28 days and then make you money. You don't believe me do you? Read this article and if you don't agree email Colin Wood and complain that Kosran is wasting valuable bulletin space.‘ Click here for the online article and browse to page 8.

Health and Safety and Company Liability

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

The following is an article from the November issue of 'New Civil Engineer' highlighting the importance of Health & Safety within the context of company liability.

Does a CESAR sticker make any difference?

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

A plant security article appeared recently on the Hire Association Europe website telling of a Kubota KX Series Mini Digger that went missing. The article says PANIU reported a Kubota recovered with ID markings removed. The question is - Do you own this machine & would a CESAR sticker have made any difference? Answer - NO. Read the HAE article here.

Contractors, call the shots to stop plant theft

Fri, 1 Jul 2011 00:00:00 EST

Contractors should call the shots to stop plant theft European Union contractors are in control when it comes to plant security, because they have contracted out of plant theft. They refuse to hire or allow unsecured machines on their sites, and refuse to accept responsibility for the security of machines hired to them. They do not sign hire conditions that make the hirer responsible if a hired in machine is stolen. European contractors specify the security they want on the machines. The hire companies pass their customers' requirement to the manufacturer, who supplies the specified security. In the UK a procedure whereby the contractor can specify the security and safety features he requires would present UK hire companies and manufacturers with some difficult choices. In the past two years UK contractors have indirectly spent about £250M to replace the 11,000 machines that were stolen and not recovered. How can UK contractors manage resistance from their suppliers? • Evaluate how much money your company has paid out in the past three to five vears because of machine theft. downtime, crosshire, admin, safety claims, insurance excess and increased premiums. • Ask security system suppliers what their product does, get customer references and demand to see the product demonstrated on your machines. • You need a flexible, fit for purpose anti-theft system. Electric immobilisers only disable a machine's wiring with coded electronics and relays. A machine with a diesel engine can easily be started by supplying power directly to the starter circuit. It takes less than 90 seconds to isolate and hot-wire bypass, without using a key, cutting a wire or damaging the machine in any way, and thieves know this. Think about asking for an immobilisation system that shuts off the diesel fuel supply, hydraulics and machine electrics. • 92 percent of stolen plant is never recovered. Trackers provide super asset management facilities but will not stop your machine been stolen. Nor will a registration or identification system. British contractors are their own worst enemy. They are the ultimate customer of manufacturers and hire companies, but they need to take control. Patrick Sheeran is founder & CEO of Kosran. Taken from May 2011 issue of New Civil Engineer Magazine.

Satrack & Kosran competitive analysis

Fri, 5 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST

Kosran Saves EPS Hire Machines STOLEN PLANT On Saturday 9th March thieves broke into a secure compound at E.P.S. Hire Centres, Mytholmroyd depot. They were confronted with 2 mini excavators, a 1-ton and 1.6-ton, both equipped with KOSRAN ECV Plant Immobilisers. Fortunately they were unable to start these machines, however, using scaffolding planks in the yard they managed to move the 1-ton excavator enough to get behind it. Behind it were parked 2 Kubota U10 1-ton excavators, a Takeuchi TB016 excavator and a Thwaites 1-ton hi-tip dumper. All 4 were loaded on their vehicles and several other machines were damaged in the process. I received a ‘phone call on Sunday about 11am to inform me that the gate was open and damaged but at the time I was enjoying the hospitality of the Sussex branch of CMPE. I made a call to my staff back at home who attended the site to secure it and inform the police. To my amazement the police were there within an hour. 2 of the excavators were equipped with ‘SATTRACK’ plant tracking units. We were unable to track them because by this time at least 12 hours had elapsed and they had already been found and disabled. We were unable to contact ‘SATTRACK’ as their emergency number was an answering machine. However, on Monday morning I did get an answer and they managed to ascertain the tracker had triggered a signal in the Seacroft area of Leeds at 10.10pm on Saturday night and this was conferred to the police at 10am on Monday. At 10.30 am we had a call from the police who had spotted a Takeuchi excavator on a trailer in the Leeds area and when checking the van they found the dumper inside. The van and trailer were also stolen. During further investigations in the area by Jason and myself, we found a roll bar off one of the Kubota excavators, again, we contacted the Leeds police who gave us support within 10 minutes to enter the Gypsy site. We recovered further panels off the Kubota and panels off one of our Benford rollers, which had been stolen 4 months earlier. On this occasion it appears that our plant tracking system is limited to only the first few hours after theft. But KOSRAN ECV stops them going in the first place. Thanks have to go to the police who, on this occasion, moved very quickly to cut our losses to a minimum. As a company we believe if KOSRAN ECV had been fitted to all machines losses would have been limited to only damaged gates. David Fielden MD E.P.S. Hire Centre Limited Member YORKSHIRE CMPE

Thieves Return for JCB Backhoe Loader & Fail Again

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EST

As previously reported on the 7th February last by Glen Crowther Fleet Officer at the CEMEX Castleford Depot in West Yorkshire WF1 2LA, a JCB Backhoe Loader valued at £48,000 was attacked by thieves who failed to steal the machine. Only two weeks previously CEMEX had commenced installing the Kosran ECV Immobilisation Tracking System on their fleet and this was one of the first machines to be secured. But this all adds up. Insurance & Police PANIU Statistics published for the period Oct 08 – Sept 09 stated that the JCB Backhoe Loader is the most stolen machine in the UK. Wait for it - on 23rd May the thieves returned again to Glen Crowther’s CEMEX depot and tried again to steal the same machine serial number 328999/fleet number B019 without success. Kosran predict that the thieves will not return to this depot. The Kosran ECV integrated Security, Safety & Asset Management ECV System pays for itself in 40 days and then makes you money – we can assume CEMEX agree! Ask FM Conway, they have been using Kosran for four years and have never had a machine stolen. Click here to download an MS Word news release »

Agri crime on the rise

Mon, 2 Aug 2010 00:00:00 EST

Farmweek.com reports that farm thefts cost the UK agricultural industry over £40 million in 2009 with expensive tractors topping the wish list as the most desirable item for the organised thieves. New research from large rural insurer NFU Mutual indicates that rural crime rose last year, led by a sharp increase of 4.8 per cent in the theft of expensive tractors. During the past two years there has been a significant increase in tractor numbers stolen 'to order 'often for immediate export fromo channel ports to destinations including Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Read the article in full here »

Kosran ECV achieve approved Cemex supplier status

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:00:00 EST

Kosran ECV achieve approved supplier status with Cemex Kosran ECV, the worldwide specialists in electro-mechanical immobilisation for construction & agricultural plant equipment, have today achieved ‘Approved Preferred Supplier’ status with CEMEX UK Operations - the UK (and worldwide) leading supplier of materials to the Construction industry. Kosran ECV, with the unique patented ‘intelligent’ diesel smart-valve, provides unrivalled diesel immobilisation – combined with remote machine control and Asset Management Tracking technology. CEMEX is a global building solutions company and leading supplier of cement, ready-mixed concrete and aggregates. In the UK, CEMEX also provides asphalt, roof tiles, concrete block solutions and railway sleepers. The company generates over £1 billion in annual sales and has a UK supply network with over 500 locations to ensure that quality building materials is available to customers locally. CEMEX is dedicated to building a better future and couples financial achievements with a firm commitment to sustainable development. Jon Gray, Strategic Sourcing Manager for CEMEX explained: “Following an analysis of plant immobilisation and security products, we decided to go for Kosran ECV, which not only helps prevent theft, but enables us to restrict machinery access to authorised and trained personnel.” Mark Smyth, Technical Director at Kosran ECV stated that: “CEMEX are a vital part of the UK & Worldwide Construction Industry and we are proud to be associated with the CEMEX brand, its commitment to Health & Safety, and its productivity. We look forward to a long partnership together.” It is envisaged that all new equipment purchases by CEMEX in the UK will have Kosran stipulated at the OEM source, and that the continual equipment renewal renewal structure in place at CEMEX will ensure that CEMEX benefits from the entire fleet being ‘Kosran Secured’.

1.5 accidents a week with Telehandlers

Thu, 3 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST

A New Guide to safe use of TELEHANDLERS discloses that they are involved in 1.5 ACCIDENTS A WEEK, being 765 incidents over the past 10 years. The New Kosran SACS System insures that - Only Authorised Users operate Kosran secured machines. This stops fatalities, serious injuries and consequential loss. User data is logged and retrievable. The Guide is available from www.cpa.uk.net/p/Telehandlers/ and from www.bita.org.uk.

JCB Damage Spree

Mon, 4 Jul 2011 00:00:00 EST

Damage caused at Church Warsop cemetery Police have arrested a 34-year-old man following an incident in Church Warsop, near Mansfield, in which a JCB caused damage in a cemetery and to fields and other vehicles. Just before 6pm on Saturday 2 July a dog section officer was driving a police car behind the JCB. The manner in which the JCB was being driven gave cause for the officer to signal for the driver to pull over. The driver failed to stop and proceeded to drive the JCB into an open field. The vehicle was travelling at around 15mph and so the officer got out of his vehicle and made further attempts to signal to the driver to stop. Additional police resources were deployed including the police helicopter. The JCB continued onto a nearby lane where it hit a vehicle. The member of the public in the vehicle is not believed to have sustained serious injuries. The JCB proceeded along the A60 into a second field and then through a wall into the grounds of a cemetery on Cuckney Hill. A number of headstones were damaged by the JCB before it drove through a gate and came to stop after puncturing its tyre. Police arrested a 34-year-old man, who he remains in police custody. The JCB is believed to have been stolen from the local area and police enquiries to locate the owner are taking place. Inspector Alan Hamilton of Nottinghamshire Police said: "The incident lasted for less than 10 minutes but in which time the JCB caused damage to fields, hedges, vehicles and within the cemetery. "Members of the local community are clearly upset by the damage and local officers are at the cemetery reassuring the public. The local councillor will be contacted and we will work with the community to ascertain the full extent of the damage and to provide whatever assistance we can to them." Read more here »

See us at the Intrastructure Show, NEC Birmingham

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EST

See us at the Intrastructure Show, NEC Birmingham, from 17th to 19th October. Hall 3A, Stand 420. Plant theft is profitable for the CEA & CPA but very costly for CECA Contractors who are mad to pay for it. EU Contractors are smarter than the British. UK Police recovered 1 percentage pa of plant stolen - 203 items of 11,200 stolen in 2009-10. The CEA Cesar scheme is a farce. It adds £130 to the cost of every machine to assist the police confirm ownership of the plant they recover IF the manufacturers VIN is inadequate. THEY RECOVER 1 percentage. Plant theft is out of police control, rising 17 percentage in past two years with 92 percentage never recovered. Trackers recovered 7.8 percentage. Theft & CEA: Theft of all machines is up: JCB by 66 percentage, Kubota by 77 percentage. The replacement of 2,000 stolen machines @ £25,000 each provides a repeat sales order for the Manufacturer of £50,000,000 - £50 million - Hard to resist. Yes the replacement of 11,200 @ £25k is a bill for CECA members of £280m plus downtime, hassle, cross hire, excess etc. There is no incentive for OEM Manufacturers to ‘effectively’ secure the machines they sell. This is why, for the past 20 years and for the next 20 years OEMs will continue to supply electric immobilisers and after-theft recovery tracking systems supported by big marketing budgets about ‘tackling plant theft’ … lip-service from the CEA to CECA when the ‘proven’ solution to plant theft exists - the Kosran ECV® - electromechanical (diesel shut-off by smart-valve) immobilisation system will stop your plant being stolen. Zero Kosran secured machines have been stolen in 2010-2011. (see three testimonials in the brochure attached). Theft & CPA: European Contractors have no responsibility for machines hired-in and stolen. UK Contractors (the customer) sign CPA Model Conditions of Hire Clause 13 and accept machines on their sites which are not ‘fit for purpose’ and immediately expose them to theft and safety claims – and then when stolen CECA members give CPA members money to replenish their fleet or bolster their cash flow – it’s madness – but this will continue until CECA shouts STOP enough is enough. The effective immobilisation of diesel engines can reduce UK plant theft by at least 80 percentage. Theft & CECA: CECA – the Civil Engineering Contractors Association needs to provide its contractor members with their own CECA Terms & Conditions of Hire which specify your requirements to Hire Companies – “no electric immobilisers and no tracker after theft recovery systems (8 percentage recovered!) thank you”, we want “fit for purpose electromechanical diesel immobilisation which also stops un-authorised use by juveniles and employees and contains exposure to safety claims” … before a machine is considered ‘Fit for Purpose to Hire by CECA’ members. . . . Contractors are the ultimate customer of OEMs and Hire Companies but the CEA & CPA are in control - the tail is wagging the dog. However at the Show the Kosran Team and I really want to talk to Contractors about the utilisation benefits from being able to track, trace, electromechanically immobilise, id operators and view machine/operator hours worked/idle, manage and audit your fleet 24/7 globally by remote control by pc or sms text which delivers a multiple of utilisation benefits to your bottom line and you only hire and buy the machine types you require. We would welcome the opportunity to meet you so please come and say hello at the Show Stand 420 HALL 3a – opposite the JCB Stand.