National Equipment Register (NER), which provides information about equipment theft risk, has completed a data sharing arrangement with Vermeer Corp., Pella, Iowa,  to help Vermeer customers combat equipment theft. NER is a division of the Verisk Crime Analytics unit at Verisk Analytics.

NER operates a national database of equipment theft and ownership reports to help law enforcement identify the owners of equipment suspected to be stolen. Through the database, more than 45 million pieces of stolen equipment have been recovered. 

Vermeer plans to register all new underground utility installation, tree care and agricultural equipment as well as provide a historical download of equipment manufactured over the last 20 years on NER's HELPtech® database. This arrangement is expected to enhance the likelihood that law enforcement can quickly identify the true owner of a Vermeer machine 24 hours a day. HELPtech registration decals are designed to further mitigate risk by deterring theft.

“We believe that this relationship is one more way to serve our Vermeer customers better,” said Lois Slings, product liability risk manager at Vermeer.

“By providing new point-of-sale data and the historical download of equipment sold, Vermeeer has taken a proactive step to help its clients protect their assets,” said Ryan Shepherd, operations manager at NER. “Because of this step, it just became a riskier proposition for criminals to steal or try to sell stolen Vermeer equipment in the used market.”

The American Rental Association (ARA) also has been a partner with NER for several years. As part of the partnership, ARA members can register up to 1,000 pieces of mobile, off-road equipment on NER’s HELPTech database at no cost through ARArental.org or ner.net.