Surrey Leader , Feb 10. 2006
By Dan Ferguson Staff Reporter

Police literally have stolen vehicles on their radar as they hunt down the missing autos via onboard tracking devices. Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers are proving an effective weapon against commercial vehicle theft in Surrey. In two separate incidents in less than a week, police were able to recover stolen trucks in a matter of hours using the advanced satellite tracking technology.

On Monday, a Port Kells insulation company located a stolen van in a matter of minutes. Police traced the Fransor Insulation vehicle to a five-acre lot in Langley Township, and recovered three other stolen vehicles in the process. Fransor owner Praven Sorensen said the 1998 five-ton truck was worth approximately $300,000. "I'm happy as a clam," said Sorensen. "That truck was my main source of income."

Fransor office manager Donna Lamont said they installed the GPS unit just a week before the theft. "We just got it up and running so the timing was really great."

The week before, GPS allowed the owner of a truck and trailer with a Bobcat loader to follow the pursuit through Surrey using his computer. Frank Nobel had gone to the commercial parking lot where he stowed the vehicles he uses in his Coquitlam landscaping business. "I went to pay for the day's parking and it wasn't there."

It wasn't the first time Nobel's company, Distinct Landscapes, had lost a loader to theft. Two years ago a trailer with a Bobcat disappeared from a secured lot and was never recovered. When he replaced the missing loader, he had a GPS receiver installed that allows him to use the Internet to pinpoint its location.

"I logged into my online account and saw a map of where the truck was and called police," Nobel said. Nobel also alerted the GPS monitoring company, Longview Advantage Alarm and Recovery. In a matter of hours, a surprised thief was in custody and Nobel was making arrangements to recover his vehicles from a police impound lot. Longview said it averages about one such recovery a month in the South Fraser area. 
  
Landscaper Frank Nobel was able to direct Surrey RCMP to his stolen truck, trailer and Bobcat after they were stolen because he had installed a GPS tracking device in the truck. The vehicle was recovered in a matter of hours.

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