Have you ever had a customer’s catalytic converter stolen from their vehicle while it’s stored at your storage facility?
That’s definitely not the news anyone wants to wake up to when they run a facility. Not good.
It’s not as though that’s entirely your fault—after all, catalytic converter theft is very common and can be hard to stop. People even have them stolen right out of parking lots and garages in the middle of the day.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care. And because stopping it can be so difficult, you may be wondering, “How can I stop catalytic converter theft at my storage facility?” What self storage security measures will actually help?
Well, we’ve got some advice for you (and tip #4 will probably make you do a double-take).
Short of setting up and 24/7 manning one of those tall Baywatch-style seats that the mall cops use in the parking lot during the holidays, what can you do?
How are you supposed to make sure no one rips the catalytic converter out of an RV parked at your facility?
Gates will help a little bit, well-lit areas help deter criminals, and cameras can help you see what happened after the fact. But determined criminals will often ignore all three of these things, and the police don’t always have the manpower to track down thefts on this scale.
Plus, once the part is stolen, the damage to your storage facility’s reputation is already done.
Here are some ways to help discourage and even prevent catalytic converter theft at storage facilities you operate, including the basics we already mentioned:
While they aren’t likely to completely prevent the theft of catalytic converters, you still should make sure your facility has these basics covered:
Many operators already have all of this to some degree, of course. All four have become fairly standard in the industry.
You can dial it up for your RV protection needs, though.
Maybe you can segment your lot so that RV storage customers go through a separate gate that only they can access.
You can center more cameras at better angles to watch over each RV space. And then, you can light up the RV parking like the Christmas tree from Whoville to discourage thieves and give your cameras great visibility.
Take that, Grinch.
What’s better than a fence and a gate?
An entire building with individual indoor garages.
Provide an indoor storage space for vehicles like RVs—either with external access garage doors or with a drive-in entrance with internal doors. By doing so, you greatly discourage catalytic converter theft.
Most catalytic converters are extremely easy to steal. You basically just need to slide under the vehicle and saw it off. This is part of what makes it such an attractive target for criminals.
One of the best ways to deter this is to make it harder. Make it so that they don’t just need to hop a fence and crawl under an RV but instead need to also break into an enclosed and locked unit.
Suddenly, it’s not so easy.
While cameras are great because they can be a deterrence and help you catch people after the act, motion sensors are an in-the-moment security feature.
They are usually unnoticed by criminals, but they alert you—either the customer or the manager, depending on how you set it up—as soon as there is an issue.
For outdoor parking lots like most facilities have, you can program motion sensors to turn off or on depending on what time of day it is. If your gate has limited access hours, then make it so your motion sensor turns on when the gate locks for the night.
Or, combine motion sensors with an indoor RV storage unit for even greater security!
Alright, so this sounds wild. We’re getting a bit sci-fi here.
But if you’re serious about security for your RV (and other vehicle) customers, this is something that might actually make a big difference for you.
This was suggested on Gabfocus by our guest, the one and only Aaron Harwell of SpiderDoor.
It’s kind of like a high-tech version of the motion sensor idea. Basically, you set up a laser grid that surrounds each individual parking space. This way, you have a more accurate and contained detection method for anyone entering that space.
Aaron even explained how you program the system so that tenants can visit their vehicles without a hassle: “When that tenant enters their gate code, it disarms it. When they leave, it rearms it.”
Your customers are putting a certain amount of trust in your facility.
While there’s never a guarantee that a customer’s belongings are safe in a storage facility, there’s one thing we can’t deny: A string of thefts at your facility is a surefire way to start losing business.
Suddenly, the negative Google reviews are rolling in, the local news is reporting on it, and occupancy is plummeting.
For your customers, replacing the catalytic converter for their RV could cost as much as $2,000 or more.
Such a theft at your facility is likely to cause negative attention and lose the trust of your customers.
Pug Pro Tip: You can also look at this as a marketing investment. Once you take extra steps to protect RVs from this crime, you can market that added security to RV-owning customers for a leg up over the competition!
If you’re a manager at a facility and aren’t also an expert on vehicles, you might have some questions about catalytic converters and what it actually looks like if someone is attempting to steal one.
Are they breaking into the car? Popping the hood?
Well, actually, it’s way easier. They’re just crawling underneath the RV.
If you’re walking around checking on your property, checking cameras, or otherwise trying to plan for catching criminals in the act, don’t just keep your eyes open for people trying to break into doors.
You also need to check low to the ground and under vehicles.
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