Workers at the National Insurance Crime Bureau have put together a report detailing parts of the country in which lowlife thieves are most likely to steal your tailgate.

According to the study, 3665 claims of lost tailgates were made over the last two years, with 1877 of them happening in 2016. For 2017, there was a slight drop of 5% in reported thefts. These claims include losses at dealerships where bandits made off with multiple units, so the number of individuals tailgates gone missing is slightly higher than reported.

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If you live in Houston, you may have a problem. That city was identified as the place with most claims at 277 reports of theft. It may be slightly worse than that in H-Town, as 175 other insurance claims simply listed ‘Texas’ as a location.

It’s not much of a surprise that Texas holds the dubious distinction of being the state with the most claims of theft, given the enormous truck market in that part of the country. More than a third of all tailgates were ripped off in the Lone Star state. California ranks second, which makes sense considering the size of its population.

Why the authors of this report chose a defunct Mitsubishi Raider for their background is anyone’s guess. It helps them to remain impartial, I suppose. Considering that, it was actually quite a smart selection.

Anyway, in terms of individual cities, the top three are all in Texas, again logical given the number of trucks sold in those towns. Eight-ranked Miami surprised this author, as it’s not the first place that springs to mind as a hotbed of pickup truck ownership.

Ages ago, tailgates were simply held on with a couple of easy to remove straps. Some manufacturers even highlighted their ease of removal, touting it as a feature. At that time, tailgates were simply a piece of hinged metal with the manufacturer’s name hammered into it. Losing one was a pain in the rear but not the end of the world.

Now, modern tailgates are festooned with expensive cameras, power activated hinges, and subtle spoilers designed to boost fuel economy, not to mention a good many of them are made of aluminium now. Having one of these units unceremoniously yanked from one’s ride is an expensive loss.

Seizing on this, manufacturers introduced locking systems, first with an old-fashioned key and later incorporating that lock into the truck’s keyless entry system. Making off with someone else’s tailgate isn’t the simple task it once was.

It seems that no matter the amount of technology and security thrown at tailgates by the manufacturers, lowlifes will eventually find some way to pry them off the back of pickups. Thankfully, these efforts are resulting in a downward trend of thefts. Stay vigilant, folks.

If you’re experiencing insomnia and need help sleeping, you can read the entire report here.