Note: The name of the company featured in this case study has been intentionally withheld to protect their identity and avoid disclosing the presence of tracking devices on rental equipment. All details have been anonymized with their consent.
Introduction
A well-known rental company operates more than a dozen locations across the Midwest and Southeast, providing a wide range of construction, agricultural, and aerial equipment to contractors and businesses. With a large, mixed fleet and steady rental demand, maintaining visibility and control over assets is critical to their operations.
This company was already experiencing significant value from Track Star. The platform integrated seamlessly with their Rental Management System (RMS) and they were using it to monitor equipment utilization and manage preventative maintenance, avoiding costly downtime.
As their business grew, so did operational challenges. Equipment theft emerged as one of their most pressing risks, threatening both revenue and customer relationships. Rather than implement a separate theft prevention system, the rental company recognized they could expand their existing Track Star investment to address this challenge. By leveraging Track Star's comprehensive GPS and telematics capabilities, they now monitor, protect, and recover high-value assets in real time, all within the same platform already driving operational efficiency across their business.
Problem Identification
While this regional construction equipment dealer was already leveraging Track Star for operational efficiency, a growing threat emerged that required expanding their platform usage: equipment theft was directly impacting their bottom line. Thieves were exploiting gaps in the rental process, using fake IDs and stolen credit cards to rent equipment and vanish. The most targeted item was the compact Bobcat Mini Track Loader, which is small enough to transport easily yet valuable enough to attract quick resale.
Fraudulent rentals often occurred late on Fridays, giving thieves a head start before discrepancies could be detected. In more sophisticated cases, individuals who had previously rented equipment legitimately returned after hours to steal it. One machine was transported across multiple states within days. Another was sold online using a forged bill of sale.
While the company had Track Star deployed across much of their fleet for utilization and maintenance management, they realized they weren't fully capitalizing on the platform's theft prevention capabilities. Assets without consistent GPS monitoring couldn't be located quickly when problems arose. Equipment thefts often went undetected until billing cycles revealed irregularities, creating dangerous delays that translated to lost revenue, increased risk exposure, and significant operational disruption.
With a mixed rental fleet of thousands of assets spread across multiple states, the company recognized they needed to maximize their existing Track Star investment to track assets more comprehensively and respond quickly to theft incidents before they escalated.
Solution Implementation
To combat rising theft and improve asset visibility, the regional construction equipment dealer made a strategic decision to maximize their existing Track Star investment. While they had been Track Star customers for several years, the platform was underutilized across their rental fleet of thousands.
The turning point came when the company hired a dedicated telematics specialist to focus on expanding Track Star deployment and usage. This role change allowed the organization to move beyond basic GPS and telematics tracking to implement comprehensive theft prevention strategies.
Key implementation steps included:
Expanding device deployment: The team prioritized their most valuable and theft-prone equipment, starting with their 900-unit Bobcat fleet and JLG aerial equipment worth up to $250,000 per unit. They transitioned from wired devices to wireless, battery-powered units to simplify installation and reduce maintenance issues across multiple locations.
Leveraging OEM integrations: For equipment already equipped with manufacturer telematics, Track Star's OEM data integration capabilities eliminated the need for additional device purchases and installations, reducing both costs and deployment complexity.
Implementing strategic geofencing: The team created territory-based geofences around their delivery regions. For their Southeast locations with greater distances between branches, each location received individual geofence parameters. In the Northeast, where locations are closer together, they created larger regional boundaries to account for overlapping service areas.
Establishing alert protocols: When assets move outside defined geofences or devices are tampered with, Track Star automatically triggers alerts that are reviewed within 15-20 minutes. The team also implemented weekly exception reports to each location, flagging non-reporting units and devices that may be missing or inactive.
Strengthening rental verification processes: Staff now pay particular attention to high-risk rentals, rented by new customers or those occurring on Friday afternoons, a pattern they identified for fraudulent activity. They verify customer credentials more thoroughly and monitor equipment movement immediately after rental.
Integrating operational workflows: Track Star data now supports contract validation, maintenance scheduling, and ensures consistency between their ERP system and actual equipment locations. Alongside their internal processes, the maintenance team at their largest location uses Track Star’s work order module because of its superior functionality with telematics data.
Track Star was the right solution for this rental business because it combined flexibility, ease of deployment, and proactive monitoring tools that aligned with how their rental operations work. With thousands of mobile assets across more than a dozen locations, the organization needed a system that could scale, deliver fast insight, and help prevent loss in a high-risk environment. Track Star delivered on all fronts.
Results
Since expanding their Track Star deployment, the multi-location rental provider has transformed equipment theft from an escalating problem into a manageable, recoverable situation. The most measurable impact: recovery of four stolen Bobcat Mini Track Loaders valued at $140,000 total, equipment that would have been permanently lost without GPS tracking.
Direct Financial Impact: At approximately $35,000 per Bobcat, each recovery represents significant capital preservation. Beyond avoiding replacement costs, recovered equipment continues generating rental revenue that would have been lost during lengthy procurement processes in today's tight equipment market.
Improved Recovery Capabilities: Track Star's theft recovery mode provides real-time location data that enables law enforcement coordination, even across state lines. In one case involving fraudulent rental documentation, the system tracked a Bobcat loader to where the thief had created a fake bill of sale and sold it to an unsuspecting buyer. Without GPS visibility, this theft wouldn't have been discovered until monthly billing cycles, weeks after the trail went cold.
I don't think we ever would have recovered that MT100... we never would have known that it was rented and then fake sold to somebody else. So the person who physically had it was just an innocent person. They didn't know any better, and so we probably wouldn't have caught that until about 3 weeks from the start of the rentals." - Rental Process Manager
Operational Efficiency Gains:
> Weekly exception reporting helps each location proactively identify equipment needing device installation or maintenance.
> Asset verification through GPS data validates rental contracts and prevents billing discrepancies.
> Utilization reporting informs business decisions about equipment deployment and purchasing.
> Maintenance integration at their largest location has improved work order management and preventive maintenance scheduling.
Process Improvements: The geofencing strategy has created an early warning system that flags suspicious movement within 15-20 minutes, giving the team critical response time. Weekly reports to all rental locations ensure consistent monitoring of offline devices and untracked assets.
Return on Investment: The $140,000 in recovered equipment represents substantial value protection that far exceeds the annual cost of Track Star deployment. More importantly, the platform has provided comprehensive fleet visibility across more than a dozen locations, enabling proactive management of thousands of assets that were previously difficult to track and locate.
The company has essentially transformed their existing Track Star subscription into a comprehensive theft prevention and asset management system, proving that strategic deployment of telematics technology can protect significant capital investments while improving overall operational efficiency.
Conclusion & Call to Action
This multi-location rental provider proved that maximizing existing telematics investment can transform equipment security from a growing liability into a manageable advantage. By expanding their Track Star deployment strategically, focusing on high-risk assets, implementing territory-based geofencing, and establishing rapid response protocols, they recovered $140,000 in stolen equipment that would have been permanently lost.
The results extend beyond theft recovery. Their team now has comprehensive visibility across more than a dozen locations, preventive maintenance capabilities, and the confidence that comes from knowing exactly where their assets are at all times. In an industry where equipment availability directly impacts revenue, Track Star helped them keep their fleet intact, earning, and protected.
Moving forward, the rental provider intends to expand their utilization of Track Star to include managing annual DOT inspections and license registration, indicating growing investment and retention.
