EtchGuard International has announced a special glass etch program exclusively for rental and fleet operators. With this new EtchGuard program, the fleet operator glass etches a unique alpha-numeric code into each major piece of vehicle glass. The whole process takes about 15 minutes per vehicle, using EtchGuard’s OE approved, safe-chemical etch system, according to Gerard Marino, president and founder of EtchGuard. The operator then completes a registration card and drops it in the mail. EtchGuard will then enter that information into their database, which is available to law enforcement 24/7/365. The cost for the etching with registration is as low as $9.99 per vehicle, according to Marino. "You can protect your fleet, anywhere in the world, for less than the price of floormats," Marino said. “Until now, vehicle registrations were controlled pretty much by the language and/or country they were registered in. Outside of this immediate area, and especially in a foreign language, it can be very difficult to determine if a vehicle was stolen or abandoned, much less get it back to its rightful owner,” Marino said. “Now, even a vehicle stolen in California exported to the Pacific Rim can be traced back to its rightful owner just as easily as if it was recovered in San Francisco. Using the power of the Web, we’ve actually created the first and only worldwide vehicle registration database. Since we can translate from and to virtually any language, the language barrier is finally gone.” Unlike other protection devices, which simply challenge the thief, EtchGuard makes a vehicle unwanted by the professional, as the cost to replace all the glass usually exceeds the potential profit, according to Marino. “According to the latest FBI Uniform Crime Report, over a million vehicles are still stolen each year," Marino said. "More disturbing, expects estimate that 200,000-300,000 are illegally exported each year. Of course, rental vehicles are a prime target as the drivers tend to leave the vehicle unlocked and be less careful in general than if the vehicle was their own.” For more information, visit www.etchguard.com or call 800-446-3136.