Labor Day should be a time for business owners and employees to rest, relax, and enjoy some time off. Unfortunately, criminals see Labor Day as an opportunity to ramp up their efforts. Thieves know many workers enjoy a long weekend to celebrate the holiday, leaving assets like cargo and equipment unattended.
Criminals also know that desirable shipments increase around Labor Day as businesses prepare for the winter holiday season. Both opportunistic thieves and sophisticated crime rings take advantage of decreased staffing levels around Labor Day to steal valuable cargo, equipment, or components from commercial properties.
Businesses must remain vigilant during the Labor Day weekend to safeguard their assets. With a proactive, multilayered security approach, commercial operations can outsmart even the most strategic criminals.
Labor Day Theft Statistics
According to a 2024 CargoNet study that analyzed data from the past five years, theft rates tend to peak on the Friday before Labor Day — when many workers head home for the long weekend. The study also revealed the following trends:
- California, Texas, and Florida are the top targeted states for Labor Day cargo theft.
- Labor Day theft incidents have increased over the last five years, leading to over $8 million in total losses.
- Warehouses, distribution centers, and truck stops are the most targeted locations for cargo theft.
Criminals don’t just look for cargo during the holidays — they also seek equipment and valuable parts. In a 2024 analysis, Verisk found that heavy equipment theft during the Labor Day holiday has increased over the past five years. According to the study, dealerships, worksites, and storage facilities are the top targeted locations for equipment theft.
5 Tips to Enhance Security During Labor Day
Whether you manage a truck yard, equipment rental lot, or any commercial facility that could be impacted by theft, you can take steps to stop crime before it happens. Consider the following tips:
1. Amplify Your Perimeter Security
Theft is more likely to occur in areas that don’t have a perimeter barrier designed to keep criminals out. Begin by assessing your fence, looking for damaged, missing, or loose sections. Consider if there are places along the perimeter where criminals could hide, such as areas with shadows or overgrown vegetation. You’ll want to ensure your perimeter has high visibility and tight security all the way around since it’s your first line of defense.
If criminals have previously accessed your property, consider installing an electric fence inside your regular fence. An electric fence is a highly effective perimeter security solution because it functions as both a physical barrier and a powerful visual deterrent. It’s designed to deliver a safe but memorable pulsed electric shock to potential intruders attempting a breach. However, most criminals don’t get that far — seeing the fence’s warning signs is enough to make them turn away.
You can integrate video surveillance cameras and a detection system into your electric fence to further elevate your perimeter’s security and ability to deter, detect, and prevent theft.
2. Illuminate Your Property
Lighting is an essential element in multilayered perimeter security. It helps to eliminate shadowy areas and coverage for criminals, increasing the chance they’ll get caught in the act. It also serves as a psychological deterrent, creating a sense that your property is being watched. Therefore, if you’re worried about holiday crime, consider whether you need more lighting.
Walk around your property’s exterior and check your lighting fixtures for damaged or burned-out bulbs. Be sure your lights are bright enough to cover vulnerable areas adequately, and if they aren’t, consider adding bulbs with more lumens.
Make sure critical areas like parking lots, access points, walkways, and the perimeter are well-lit to help deter opportunistic thieves. Lastly, ensure your lighting does not interfere with surveillance camera performance.
If you need to install more lighting, consider solutions that integrate with other security measures. For example, an alarm-based lighting system that connects to an electric fence activates when it detects unauthorized activity, flooding the area with light, deterring intruders, and enabling a prompt response.
3. Conduct a Pre-Holiday Risk Assessment
Before investing in Labor Day security upgrades, it’s crucial to perform a risk assessment. That way, you can uncover your business’s highest-priority risks and allocate resources to address them.
The first step is defining your threats. Consider incidents you’ve experienced in the past and local crime data. Knowing the types of threats you face and the potential consequences of a breach can help you select the appropriate safeguards.
To conduct a risk assessment of your property, you’ll need to test and evaluate all the parts of your security system to check for vulnerabilities. This process may include ensuring your security cameras are positioned correctly and your backup generators are in working order. In some cases, a risk assessment may mean reviewing your company’s safety protocols and whether you need to train employees on holiday-related mitigation techniques. For example, if you’re a freight carrier, you may need to train truck drivers on new strategies to protect their cargo on the road.
Even if you’ve assessed your property’s risk within the past year, it’s important to keep your guard up. Criminals continually find new ways to steal valuable goods, calling for more advanced measures. If you need assistance determining your property’s susceptibility to theft, it’s best to contact the professionals. For instance, the perimeter security experts at AMAROK can conduct a free threat assessment to identify urgent vulnerabilities, determine your risk level, and recommend a proactive, cost-effective approach to prevent crime at your business.
4. Secure Your Most Targeted Assets
Thieves are drawn to assets that are relatively easy to steal and resell for a high price. Components like catalytic converters can be stolen in minutes, while equipment such as a skid steer or riding mower are easy to load onto a trailer and haul off. Fortunately, you can take steps to protect commonly targeted assets.
Before the holiday, make sure employees don’t leave equipment or machinery on worksites — instead, bring them back to the yard where they can be stored in a garage or behind a secure gate. Ensure all assets are kept away from your fence and brought into locked areas if possible. Remind your employees to take basic security measures before heading home, like removing keys from equipment and ensuring vehicle doors are locked.
For assets in motion, like in-transit cargo, encourage employees to leave loaded trailers in secure, authorized lots. If they need to park in a public lot, like a truck stop, make sure they use a well-lit location with security cameras. Otherwise, encourage drivers to apply security measures like kingpins or glad hand locks to protect unattended cargo.
5. Stay Informed With Remote Monitoring Technology
Leaving equipment, inventory, and other valuables unattended during the holidays is sometimes unavoidable, but business owners can integrate remote monitoring technology with their security system to mitigate the risk. A remote monitoring system connected to video surveillance cameras allows you to view and respond to suspicious activity promptly, no matter where you are.
If you’d rather not spend your holiday monitoring your business, you can partner with security professionals to watch your property. AMAROK’s security specialists can monitor your property 24/7, alert law enforcement to an intrusion attempt, and keep you informed.
With a comprehensive security system that’s integrated with remote monitoring technology, you can reduce or eliminate the need for on-site security staff and enjoy your time away from work.
Prevent Labor Day Theft With AMAROK
You and your employees deserve a restful Labor Day weekend. Let AMAROK ensure you have peace of mind during holidays — and every day of the year.
We specialize in installing highly effective electric fencing systems such as The Electric Guard Dog™ Fence. As our flagship solution, The Electric Guard Dog Fence prevents external theft for 99% of our customers after installation.
We understand that every business has unique security risks. Our services begin with a free threat assessment so we can identify your vulnerabilities and recommend a security solution that meets your needs.
Request an expert threat assessment today or contact us for more information.
