Driver leaves his truck and his truck soon leaves him

[Cybergal]

Driver leaves his truck and his truck soon leaves him

11/8/07

A truck driver who left his vehicle unattended for close to 15 minutes at the Flying J truck stop in Vaudreuil-Dorion late Monday returned to find the truck and its cargo gone from the parking lot.
Police said the man had stopped at the Flying J to sleep for several hours. He then woke up and got out of the truck at 11 p.m. When he returned the truck and trailer, which was loaded with six palettes of copper (44,000 pounds) had been stolen.
Police say the copper was valued at $160,000, while the truck, which was based in Ontario, was worth $200,000.
A $3,300 cement mixer was stolen from a Vaudreuil-Dorion construction site near Maurice Richard and André Chartrand Sts. last Monday. Meanwhile, thieves made off with another three rolls of copper wire after they broke into a fenced in Hydro Quebec station in Vaudreuil-Dorion. The wire is worth $1,700, police say.

canada

[CMoore2004]

I can't believe how much copper theft there is going on. Not sure if you guys have seen the stories about people steeling the copper right from the phone and power companies. Some made the mistake of thinking a live wire was actually dead and got electrocuted for a few thousand dollars in copper. A house being built around here had all the copper piping and wiring stole out of it overnight. I really don't know a whole lot about the nation's economy, but I know Michigan's is about as bad as it can get. Did the 4 hours the Michigan government shut down affect anyone here?

A year or so ago we bought some land that was owned by a packrat. My uncle and I went through and took all the metal we could to the scrap yard. I think the 30 pounds or so of copper actually paid as much as the aluminum, steel, etc. put together.

[wc5b]

Thats got inside job written all over it. Your telling me they just got lucky in taking the truck in that big truck stop and it just HAPPENED to be one loaded with precious metal? Someone in the loop is involved in that one. Company Worker, Shipper Worker, or maybe even driver himself. I don't think it takes a rocket scientist.

[CMoore2004]

I didn't even think about that... inside which company, though. Shipper doing an inside job knowing the trucking company's insurance will pay up?

If it were a flatbed, I wouldn't think it'd be an inside job. If it was in a van, someone definitely knew which truck had the untraceable goods.

[Scarecrow03]

Cargo thieves are good at what they do. They know which companies haul which types of cargo. They know which shippers book which loads on which carriers. They'll follow the trucks and stake them out and wait for the opportunity to present itself.

I started my driving career with PAM Transport. One of their divisions is McNeil Trucking out of N. Little Rock. McNeil had some freight coming out of CA hauling high dollar freight. One morning, while pulling a McNeil trailer, I woke up and did my morning pretrip. As I walked to the back of the truck I was shocked to find my sealed and locked door standing wide open. The padlock had been cut and the seal broken. Luckily I was hauling steel wire on those weird cradle/spool things and none of them were missing. When I called dispatch to let them know what I had discovered they simply said that it must've been another attempt at getting one of McNeil's high dollar loads (not mentioning any details to protect any current/future PAM/McNeil drivers).

[CMoore2004]

Stories like this make me scared NOT to carry.

[Scarecrow03]

The thing is, these cargo thieves really don't want any confrontation. Of course, neither does a home burglar, but I still have protection at home. The point I was trying to make is most cargo thieves won't try to be seen or otherwise confront a driver, IN MOST CASES.

[wc5b]

Originally Posted by Scarecrow03

Cargo thieves are good at what they do. They know which companies haul which types of cargo. They know which shippers book which loads on which carriers. They'll follow the trucks and stake them out and wait for the opportunity to present itself.

I started my driving career with PAM Transport. One of their divisions is McNeil Trucking out of N. Little Rock. McNeil had some freight coming out of CA hauling high dollar freight. One morning, while pulling a McNeil trailer, I woke up and did my morning pretrip. As I walked to the back of the truck I was shocked to find my sealed and locked door standing wide open. The padlock had been cut and the seal broken. Luckily I was hauling steel wire on those weird cradle/spool things and none of them were missing. When I called dispatch to let them know what I had discovered they simply said that it must've been another attempt at getting one of McNeil's high dollar loads (not mentioning any details to protect any current/future PAM/McNeil drivers).

Ya, you hear stories like that all the time. My point is that they are good at what they do for a reason sometimes. You pay the right guy off and you get LOTS of info. Thats all I am saying. Just think of what Al Qauda could do with a load of this or that.

[Scarecrow03]

There's probably a little bit of inside information. Where it comes from, we'll probably never know.

[Roadmedic]

I can't tell from the article, but maybe it was a flatbed.