Ever get a boot on your truck? Ever get a boot on your truck from some company that you’re pretty sure wasn’t legit? You’re not alone! And thanks to one persistent trucking company, there’s one less illegal booter out there taking advantage of drivers!
A driver was parked in a mostly empty lot in Northwest Charlotte, North Carolina on August 8th. He hadn’t seen posted signs restricting truck parking because they had been partially obscured by trees. A short time later, the driver found himself facing a $2,500 boot removal fee. Local police officers even backed up the booter.
The driver called his boss, Leander Richmond. Richmond is the owner of Eagle Express, a small Michigan carrier. Richmond contacted the police – and it’s a good thing he did. It turned out that the owner of the parking lot hadn’t actually given their permission to boot trucks or even post signs.
The booting company had been putting up signs and booting trucks in multiple lots without permission.
“They did their research, looked at all the information that we had, and they sought a warrant and arrested this guy — it turned out he’d been doing this on multiple lots,” Richmond told Overdrive. “He’d actually been out there – let’s call it what it is – stealing from truck drivers.”
The booter was ultimately arrested, but Richmond is still out the $2,500.
Source: Overdrive
I’d she the booted. Take him to small claims court.
Agreed! It was illegal, so the courts should demand the booter return all his stolen money
Start carrying a cut off grinder, long extension cord and some cutting discs in your truck. Those boots aren’t going to be a problem anymore.
Milwaukee makes an awesome 18v angle grinder that works great! No cord needed!
DeWalt has a nice one too. And, I mean, I wanted one *anyway*, so, now I just have more reason to get it! 😀
“No, no, honey, it’s for *work*!” 😉
Everything about being in Charlotte sucks!!!
Dewalt battery power grinder. Keep on truck. No booting problems.
Pneumatic grinder
Oh, hey, that’s a pretty good idea. Pneumatic die grinder with cut-off wheels.
We all need to avoid these scummy places that boot. Poor old humble hillbilly Kentucky is doing it at the Walmarts. Now Charlotte? Oh, and avoid parking anywhere in Atlanta unless it’s at a legit truck stop. Theres a BP dinky truck stop in Atlanta that got reports of booting after the truckers pull up after getting fuel (saw it on Truckers Report). It’s funny how the south is truly less welcoming than their reputation seems to be. I’ve parked off the side at buildings on Long Island and never got harassed.
My box truck got booted in Union City, GA (sw of Atlanta loop) in the parking lot where Planet Fitness is. Cost $500 to remove. They hide in the parking lot in their inconspicuous personal vehicles, then swoop in when they see you’re no longer in the front seat. I caught someone in my hood mirror crouching down at the side of my front right wheel. I freaked out, assuming it was someone trying to mess with my truck. I swung that passenger door open to find a startled, tiny young woman. She hadn’t even had time to tape the “you’ve gotten booted” notice to my window. She explained that we were illegally parked and these big trucks were ruining the pavement. So they boot us instead? My trucks GVWR is 33k. Meanwhile, there already had been another truck, but a tractor trailer, in the same parking lot, unbooted. She explained that he was ok parking there “because he had not left the front seat.” Okay, so the weight of the truck only can do damage as long as the driver is in the sleeper? This young lady wore a body camera and a logo on her shirt that said “Buckhead Parking Enforcement.” We were nowhere near the city of Buckhead, we were in the dump known as Union City. She was dressed to give the impression that she was working for the city as a meter maid. Complete deception.
I would not be surprised if some of the local cops were involved with the illegal booter scheme.
The cops that responded likely had no way of knowing that the signs were not authorized by the property owners. The booter just pointed to the signs, so the cops would thought them to be legitimate.
That’s what I was thinking!! The police department has no jurisdiction on private property. Petty good scam!! But I would have cut it off right front of them!!!
Lead cord and a cheap grinder. Plug in to your power inverter
One day these scammers are going to cross the wrong driver on the wrong day and then all hell is going to break loose. We keep getting told you have to be professional and just take it. WHY trucks make this country work and yet we are taken advantage of by just about everyone that we encounter in a day. The cops , The court , the Company I could go on and on.
Hit it on the head… Everyone scams on the driver. We get blamed for everything that goes wrong, company steels from us and so does everyone else. I payed 550 to get unbooted me and 15 drivers all at once in Tennessee 3am in the morn he gave us 2 hrs to pay cash or price doubled and after 4 hrs it was impound fees although they did not move the trk. 36 yrs out here and I never thought I would see the day I hated driving
Seems that the government has plenty of time for telling us what we can’t do but no time to help us solve the problem. We just need to start slowing downthe loads tell them we have no where to park and we will be delayed with the load unless they have a staging area for us to park.
Truck should stop delivering to those places and what ever the boot price is, well that’s how much more we should charge to deliver in those areas. Let local businesses know why the increase and let them vote at the next city council meeting.