Once upon a time, it looked like a lot of the junkyards scattered throughout the U.S. were on their way out. Back in the 1980s, in particular, there was an 18-month period when hundreds of junkyards suddenly closed down due to a major downtick in business.
But in 2018, scrap yards and, more specifically, metal scrap yards appear to be more popular than ever. This is largely because the price of certain metals like copper has skyrocketed in recent years and helped junkyard operators rake in the big bucks.
There is a downside to this, though.
If you own a metal junkyard, you need to be more vigilant than ever before when it comes to protecting your property. That means putting up fencing around it and setting up a video surveillance system.
Here are 10 reasons why you need surveillance for your metal junkyard.
1. Protects Your Most Valuable Possessions
Most people would look around your metal junkyard and see, well, junk. It’s little more than just piles of metal and other rubbish, right?
Wrong. Metal scrap yards are literally filled with tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars worth of scrap at any moment. It might not look like much to the average person, but to you, it’s your livelihood.
A surveillance system will help you protect your most valuable possessions and ensure no one is able to steal them easily.
2. Shows Would-Be Thieves You Mean Business
When you put up surveillance cameras throughout your junkyard, it’ll let those who might be thinking about breaking in to steal know that you mean business. The mere sight of surveillance cameras in a metal junkyard will often be more than enough to keep would-be thieves away.
It’s not a bad idea to advertise the fact that you’re installing surveillance cameras with remote monitoring in your junkyard when you make the decision to do it. Don’t be afraid to put up big signs that let people know that they’re being watched at all times.
That alone should scare most people off and prevent them from trying to steal anything from your scrap yard.
3. Provides More Protection Than Fencing Ever Could
For years and years, most junkyards thought that they could protect their possessions by putting up fences around their properties. They installed tall fences with barbed wire around them and believed that would be enough to stop people from trying to break in.
Many of them learned the hard way that fencing is no obstacle for someone who is determined to break into a junkyard and steal things. People have found all kinds of creative ways to jump over fences and cut through them to take whatever they want.
There are some scrap yard owners who have turned to electrified fencing to keep intruders off their property. But that kind of fencing can be expensive, and it can also pose all kinds of potential legal problems if someone is injured or even killed after touching one.
Rather than going that route, why not go with an option that’s substantially safer and a lot more effective? Monitored surveillance cameras will protect your junkyard better than fencing any day of the week.
4. Prevents You From Having to Hire a Bunch of Security Guards
One of the other solutions junkyard owners have come up with for dealing with an onslaught of intruders is hiring security guards to patrol the premises at all hours of the day and night.
In some situations, this approach works just fine. But there are also some pretty obvious drawbacks to it.
For starters, it’s very expensive to employ a team of security guards to look over a junkyard 24/7. The average cost to have a single unarmed security guard patrol your lot from 6 pm – 6 am/ 7 days per week is $8,500 per month.
It can also be tough for security guards to stay alert at all times when walking around on junkyard property. More often than not, there isn’t a whole lot going on inside of a scrap yard at night.
But the biggest issue many junkyard owners have run into is that security guards themselves can pose a threat to the security of the yards. There are some security guards who have, unfortunately, been caught stealing from junkyards while on the job.
This is why this particular solution just won’t work when you’re making an effort to protect your scrap yard.
5. Allows You to Look Over Large Areas of Land
Most junkyards are relatively large. There are some that stretch over 10, 15, and 20 acres or more.
If yours is anywhere close to that big, there is almost no way that you can look over it at all times of the day or night. Even if you have an army of security guards patrolling your plot of land, there are going to be blind spots that intruders can use to their advantage.
Surveillance cameras will get rid of those blind spots for you and allow you to see everything that’s going on, no matter how big or small your metal junkyard might be. You won’t have to worry about what’s happening all the way in the back of your lot at any time.
This will keep your junkyard safer. And as an added bonus, it’ll also allow you to make the most of your space. You won’t necessarily have to keep all your most expensive scrap metal up near your main building anymore since it’ll be protected regardless of where it’s at on your property.
6. Keeps Your Employees Safe
As the owner of a junkyard, you need to worry about protecting more than just your possessions. You’re also responsible for protecting your employees and making sure they’re safe at all times.
A surveillance system can help you monitor your junkyard and spot any potential safety problems before they turn into major issues. From scrap metal that’s spilled out all over the place to a stack of crushed cars that looks like it might tip at any time, you can see everything.
Your employees will be safe thanks to your surveillance system, and it’ll give you one less thing to worry about.
7. Keeps Your Employees Honest, Too
While you want to keep your employees safe at all times when they’re working in your junkyard, you also want to protect yourself from any signs of internal theft. If your employees know you have valuable scrap metal lying around, they could be tempted to take it.
They’ll be a lot less tempted to take it when you have surveillance cameras all over the place. Most scrap yard owners don’t like to think about their own employees stealing from them, but it happens more often than you might think.
8. Stops Fires From Doing Damage
Stopping thefts in your junkyard isn’t the only thing you should be thinking about when it comes to installing a surveillance system. Fires have also become a big problem for many junkyards across the action.
Cities like Philadelphia have seen numerous junkyard fires spiral out of control in recent years. These fires can destroy junkyard properties and, in some cases, do large amounts of damage to neighboring properties as well. They’re also extremely bad for the environment.
A surveillance system is capable of catching fire before it gets to be too big and contacting the authorities about it. It won’t prevent fires altogether, but it will make large four-alarm fires in scrap yards a lot less likely.
9. Brings Your Insurance Rates Down
One thing some scrap yard owners are concerned about with regards to surveillance systems is the cost associated with installing and using one.
You will need to invest some money into putting a surveillance system on your property. You’ll also need to pay to have it monitored remotely. But it could very well end up saving you money in the end.
In addition to helping you avoid the financial loss that comes along with losing scrap metal and other possessions, a surveillance system can also bring your insurance rates down. Talk to your insurance company about how a surveillance company could help you get access to better rates.
10. Gives You a Renewed Peace of Mind
As a junkyard owner, your focus should always be on improving your business and helping it to make more money. Your goal should be to make your scrap yard bigger and better year in and year out.
But how can you focus on that when you’re worried about someone breaking into your junkyard every night? You might not be able to sleep most nights when you know there’s a chance someone could scale your fence and make off with thousands of dollars worth of scrap metal.
You’ll get an unprecedented peace of mind from the moment you have a surveillance system installed. You won’t believe how much better you feel about your entire operation.
Install Surveillance in Your Metal Junk Yard Today
If you own a metal junkyard, you can’t afford not to have a surveillance system in place.
As you’ve seen here, there are so many reasons to have one installed today. By doing it, you’ll protect your possessions, thwart burglary attempts, keep everyone in your junkyard safe, and even save a little money every month on your insurance bills.
Do you want to start enjoying all of these great benefits of installing a surveillance system? Contact us today to find out how we can outfit your junkyard with the best surveillance cameras for your specific situation.
