Samsara Study Reveals Equipment Theft and Loss Costs Large Operations an Average of $13.2M Annually
New research finds 72% of equipment losses come from small gear, not heavy machinery — and untracked operations are 70% more likely to absorb a seven-figure hit
Samsara (NYSE:IOT), the pioneer of the Connected Operations® Platform, today released its 2026 State of Connected Operations (SOCO) Asset Theft & Loss Report, Quantifying the Hidden Cost of Asset Invisibility. The report finds that equipment theft and loss is not just a replacement-cost problem — it's a $13.2M annual operational drain for large organizations without asset tracking.
The bigger surprise is what types of assets are driving the losses. While heavy machinery theft makes headlines, 72% of those operational costs come from disappearing small equipment: tools, sensors, generators, and specialized parts that operations depend on daily.
The proprietary study, based on insights from 1,500 financial executives across construction, logistics, field services, and utilities in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, and Canada, puts a precise number on a problem the industry has long felt but never been able to quantify. Despite 71% of large operations experiencing equipment theft every quarter, and 25% of new equipment budgets going to replace what's been stolen or lost, the hidden damage runs far deeper: project shutdowns, emergency rentals, idle labor, and contract penalties compound the direct loss into millions in operational costs.
"Before deploying Samsara, a single missing piece of equipment could delay a job, idle a crew, and force emergency procurement—all without ever knowing where the asset actually was," said John Chaccour, Director of Technology at Total Safety. "With real-time asset visibility, we expect a 100% reduction in unreturned assets, 90% reduction in days outstanding, and our teams spending time on safety and customer service instead of searching for tools. All told, this could add up to millions in recovered operational costs."
Key findings include:
Equipment theft is a quarterly reality, not a rare event
- 71% of large operations without asset tracking experience equipment theft every quarter
- 25% of new equipment budgets go to replacing stolen or lost assets
Small equipment is a hidden driver of losses
- Large operations without tracking lose an average of $13.2M annually from direct and indirect costs of missing equipment
- 72% of those operational costs come from missing smaller assets like tools, sensors, and specialized parts
- The "death by a thousand cuts" from disappearing small gear is where the real financial drain occurs
Missing assets drain productivity and halt projects
- 98% of organizations say searching for assets is a daily or weekly occurrence
- At more than a quarter of organizations without real-time visibility, employees spend more than 10 hours per week searching for missing equipment — equivalent to one full-time employee doing nothing but searching for three months a year
- 77% globally (80% in the U.S.) say a missing critical asset caused a significant shutdown or delay in the past 12 months
- Without tracking, the average time to locate a missing asset is 25 days, and 54% of organizations can't recover even half of their stolen high-value equipment
Asset tracking delivers rapid, full ROI
- 100% of organizations with an asset tracking solution report they have fully recovered the cost of the solution; 95% within 18 months
- Organizations with tracking see a 76% reduction in average annual operational costs due to missing assets
- Tracking users are 2x more likely to recover stolen assets within the first five days after a loss
- 31% of organizations with asset tracking have successfully lowered their insurance premiums as a result
The gap between organizations with and without asset visibility is not merely operational, it's financial. Companies investing in tracking are not only recovering assets faster, they're preventing the secondary costs that compound long after the initial loss. Designed to give organizations real-time visibility into their assets and operations across every site, Samsara helps close this gap with the Samsara Asset Gateway, Asset Tag, and Asset Tag XS — a family of tracking devices built for tough conditions and powered by Samsara's industry-leading network of millions of connected devices.
Find the full report findings here.
About Samsara
Samsara (NYSE:IOT) is the pioneer of the Connected Operations® Platform, which is an open platform that connects the people, devices, and systems of some of the world's most complex operations, allowing them to develop actionable insights and improve their operations. With tens of thousands of customers across North America and Europe, Samsara is a proud technology partner to the people who keep our global economy running, including the world's leading organizations across industries in transportation, construction, wholesale and retail trade, field services, logistics, manufacturing, utilities and energy, government, healthcare and education, food and beverage, and others. The company's mission is to increase the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of the operations that power the global economy.
Methodology
This report was commissioned by Samsara and conducted by independent research firm Wakefield Research between February 5 and February 17, 2026. The survey polled 1,500 financial executives across seven countries: the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, and Canada. Respondents were not necessarily Samsara customers and were surveyed online. Global results were aggregated across all responses to provide an average.
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