Oscar Mayer Wienermobile hit by catalytic converter thieves

Not even the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile is safe, as the iconic vehicle was hit by catalytic converter thieves in early February 2023.

“Based on conversations with industry professionals, including shops and appraisers, the market for these stolen parts is booming with the demand for parts so high, being mainstream supply chains have not been what they were prior to COVID,” Steve Kern, casualty claims manager for Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance says. (Credit: The Kraft Heinz Co.)

Not even the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, that beloved piece of Americana, is safe from catalytic converter thieves as one of the iconic vehicles (there are six Wienermobiles) was targeted in early February 2023, according to a Las Vegas news outlet.

While catalytic converter theft is more prevalent among personal automobiles, thieves are eyeing commercial vehicles more often. In Warren County, Pennsylvania, 18 catalytic converts were stolen from Amazon trucks, while similar crimes targeted the online retail giant’s vehicles in Texas and Indiana in recent years. In Connecticut, 36 school buses had their catalytic converters stolen from two lots.

“We work with a couple of TPA firms that work with cities across the country, and we have done some claims on shuttle buses and city vehicles, and we are seeing more and more,” Premiere Services’ Chief Operations Officer Chris Sestito says. He tells PropertyCasualty360.com that commercial vehicle catalytic converter theft is not to the level of personal line vehicles, but it is starting to grow.

“Let’s face it; thieves are opportunists. They are going to go where the picking is ripe,” Sestito says. “If a thief wants to get 10 catalytic converters, they can stop at 10 different cars in a neighborhood or hop one fence, roll from truck to truck or bus to bus, and be done with it in 13 minutes or under.”

For experienced catalytic converter thieves, it can take less than 60 seconds to strip the part from an automobile, Sestito says, continuing: “That’s when the thief has to jack the car up. When they are dealing with buses or box trucks, there is enough ground clearance that they don’t even have to do that. They just have to slide under the vehicle, cut it right and move on to the next one.”

Steve Kern, casualty claims manager for Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance (PLM), says that while there hasn’t been a huge spike in theft claims overall in 2022 compared with previous years, there has been a rise in stolen catalytic converters seen in loss description data from theft claims. Most of PLM’s claims come from work vehicles and heavy equipment-type trucks.

“Based on conversations with industry professionals, including shops and appraisers, the market for these stolen parts is booming with the demand for parts so high, being mainstream supply chains have not been what they were prior to COVID,” Kern says.

According to Rich Randazzo, president of Brownyard Claims Management, Inc., his company has not seen a spike in claims of this type, but he does advise clients on the risk of catalytic converter theft for commercial vehicles.

“Catalytic converters are valuable because of the precious metals in them, which fetch high prices on the black market. Additionally, the part is quickly and easily stolen, however, based on their placement it is not easily obvious when they are taken,” Randazzo says.

The prices for the precious metals in catalytic converters have been steadily on the rise for years, but have spiked more recently due to the war in Ukraine. As Russia is the world’s leading source of palladium, sanctions against the country have driven up the price, in turn making the crime of catalytic converter theft even more attractive.

To deter would-be catalytic converter thieves from hitting a commercial fleet, PLM’s Kern recommends the following:

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