Spike in stolen trailers sets off high-tech cat and mouse game with thieves

In his 20 years in the trailer business, Shane Thompson hasn't seen anything like the spike in trailer thefts over the past few years.

"Unfortunately it's far too common, especially in the last five or six years we've seen more of an increase in theft than ever before," said the owner of Action Trailers in Strathroy. "Pretty much every week, we're hearing about people losing their trailers." 

One of those people is Nicholas Waldram, a London, Ont., owner of a company that installs and repairs rain gutters. He had one of his two work trailers stolen outside his business in September. Then last weekend, the replacement trailer was stolen despite Waldram having spent $4,000 in security upgrades recommended by police. You can read his story here. 

A GPS tracker was among the security updates on the trailer taken last weekend. It briefly pinged its location in Strathroy in the hours after it was driven away from a business plaza in south London. Shortly after that the signal abruptly ended. Police have not been able to recover it. 

Scanners now defeating trackers

Thompson said GPS locators hidden on trailers to thwart thieves are becoming much less effective. This is because thieves are now using handheld radio frequency (RF) detectors to quickly locate the device and disable it, often within minutes after the drive away with the trailer. The RF detectors can be bought online for as little as $60. They have legitimate uses, including finding hidden cameras.

"People are realizing that trailers are an easy thing to target and steal, compared to a vehicle," he said. "Most thieves will have the RF scanner now." 

That's forced Thompson to turn to a new gizmo to combat thieves called KYCS. It's pronounced "kicks" and its an acronym for "Keeping Your Community Safe." About the size of a pack of playing cards, the device is hidden on board a trailer or a vehicle just like a GPS tracker. Because they only transmit their location in a short burst at a set time, they're more difficult for thieves to find and disable.

The KYCS also has an app that sends location information to police after the theft is reported. 

That's an important function because police don't want trailer owners to try and recover stolen property on their own. 

Const. Jeff Hare is with the Ontario Provincial Police, a force that sees plenty of trailer thefts in the rural areas they patrol.

"We strongly suggest owners do not personally attend the location of where the vehicle may be," he said. "Members of the public need to remember these are criminals we are dealing with and can be unpredictable at times. The last thing we need is someone getting hurt trying to get their property back."

The KYCS device costs less than the insurance deductables in most cases covers four years of service via the app. A repeat customer pays less to have the device upgraded along with a new coverage contract. The renewal is also needed to replace the battery which lasts about five years.

Thompson told CBC News he uses a KYCS on each of the trailers on his lot. He also sells the devices to his customers. Thompson has had more then 10 trailers stolen and said each time, police have been able to recover them. 

Another aspect of trailer thefts: Thompson said stolen trailers are too easy to re-register, and resell. That's because Ontario's transportation ministry doesn't require a serial number to register trailers as "homemade." The person registering the trailer has to produce identification but the trailers are never inspected. 

"If I steal a trailer I can register it with the MTO as a homemade trailer and I can have an ownership for it and sell it to you and you'd never know that it's a stolen trailer," said Thompson.

The homemade trailer designation was created for the few people who build their own custom trailers but Thompson said it's now a loophole that thieves can exploit. 

Thompson said all these factors have made trailer thefts a relatively risk-free way for criminals to make a quick buck. 

"As the price of these trailers keep going up, they just become more a prominent thing to steal," he said. "There's more on the road and more getting stolen."