Some problems in rental come and go. Theft is not one of them.
This week I sat down with Ed Craddock, owner of True Value Rental in Bay City, Michigan, and the founder of The Rental Group on Facebook. It is one of the largest online communities for equipment rental owners, with several thousand members. Ed has been around rental almost his whole life. He started in the family business when he was seven or eight years old, and took over in 2006. That is close to 50 years of watching this industry change.
Ed started his Facebook group 10 years ago. One of the main reasons was theft. A decade later, it is still the thing operators talk about most.
He put it plainly when I asked him what the group focuses on these days.
“Lately, it’s been theft and theft prevention. It’s nationwide.” (10:22)
If you run an independent rental shop, this conversation is worth your time. Here is what Ed taught me about equipment rental theft prevention, and what you can do this week to protect your fleet.
Why Theft Is Still the Number One Problem in Rental
Theft has been a top problem for rental companies for as long as Ed can remember. It spiked about three years ago, and that surge is what pushed him to start sharing theft stories inside his group. He posts them even when he finds them outside his own community, because one warning can stop the next hit.
He told me about a case where one person stole a lift from a company, then drove 80 miles and stole another lift from a second company. Ed believes that if the second company had known, the theft would have been prevented. That is the whole idea behind sharing.
The problem is not slowing down. Ed gets several theft and non-return alerts every single day. When asked about whether equipment theft is going away, he said that for now, it’s here to stay, and that the challenge is to get smarter than the people stealing from us.
How Equipment Theft Schemes Are Changing
Thieves do not stand still. They find a method, run it until it stops working, and then switch to a new one. Ed and his group work to learn each new scheme and share it fast.
The Newest Third-Party Scheme
The latest trick Ed is seeing uses a middleman.
“The contractor calls for the homeowner or the homeowner calls for the contractor, orders the equipment, it gets delivered, and then the contractor takes off with it. That’s their newest concept.” (11:12)
It works because the order looks normal on paper. The name on the contract is not the person who walks away with the machine. The fix is a process that catches that gap before the equipment ever leaves your yard.
Where Theft Is Hitting Right Now
Theft moves around the country. When thieves get pushed out of one area, they pack up and target another. Michigan was a hot spot for a while, which is actually how Ed first realized how big the problem was. Right now, he points to Texas and California as the leading hot spots. The good news is that you do not have to guess. Industry alert data lets you see where theft is trending, so if it is migrating toward your state, you can raise your guard before it arrives.
Train Your Counter Staff to Trust Their Gut
Most theft gets stopped at the counter, not in the parking lot. Your front-line team is your first line of defense. The hard part is that saying no to a customer feels uncomfortable, especially in a slow season when you want every rental you can get.
Give Your Team an Out
Ed’s advice for reducing theft is straight-forward. Take the pressure off your counter staff and put it on the manager.
Train your team to say, “Let me get approval from my manager.” That gives them a clean way to slow things down without feeling like they are accusing anyone. Then put the policy in writing. Spell out the extra steps for customers who are out of state, out of the area, or who just give off a strange feeling. Most of all, give your people permission to say no.
“Have a policy in place when things feel weird, and don’t be afraid to say no.” (13:07)
Watch for the Red Flags
Thieves use timing and appearance to slip through. One classic move is showing up about half an hour before close on a weekend, because they know the staff wants to go home. They count on a rushed, short stop.
Other red flags are small on their own but add up fast. A rented box truck pulling into the lot. Someone in brand-new gear that does not match the job. The point is not any single clue. It is the feeling that something does not fit. That gut feeling is real information, and your team should be trained to act on it instead of brushing it aside.
The Technology That Helps Stop Theft
Good habits stop most theft. Good technology stops even more. Ed pointed to a few tools every operator should know about.
ERG Text Alerts
The American Rental Association runs a program called ERG that sends theft alerts to members who sign up. It also keeps a database, so you can see where theft is trending and which way it is moving. Signing up is one of the easiest wins available to you. Just remember Ed’s warning when a deal looks too good during a slow stretch.
“Pay attention to what you’re doing. Don’t just see those dollar signs.” (15:18)
License Scanning and Smarter Software
There is real room for technology to do more here. License scanning can confirm that an ID is legitimate and that it matches the person standing in front of you. The next step is software that runs quiet checks in the background. Picture pulling up a customer and having the system verify the license, match it to the credit card, and run a soft background check, all while your counter staff keeps the conversation moving. This is exactly the kind of work modern rental software should take off your plate.
A Connected Industry Is Your Best Defense
Here is the theme that ran through my whole talk with Ed. No single shop beats theft alone. A connected industry does. His Facebook group works because rental people are willing to help each other. Most operators are not direct competitors, so they share freely, the good stories and the bad ones.
“We’re all one big family. That’s the way I look at it.” (18:54)
When you join the ARA, sign up for ERG alerts, and stay connected with other operators, you turn one shop’s bad day into a warning that protects everyone else. That is how we raise the bar as an industry.
Where Your Software Fits In
Equipment rental theft prevention is one more reason the tools you run on matter. The right platform does not just record what already happened. It helps you act before something goes wrong.
At Quipli, theft prevention is built in. You can scan a customer’s driver’s license to verify their identity and validate their credit card, at no extra cost. Your customer records, contracts, and customer portal all live in one place, so your team has the full picture before a machine ever leaves the yard. That means less friction for the good customers you want to keep and more protection against the ones you do not.
You built a serious business. Your software should help you protect it.
