Getting robbed at a truck stop

You've got a point. I did run at least one guy off with his fingers in his ears screaming, "NEENER, NEEENER, NEEEEEEEENER!"



OTOH, I have a point that just hadn't bubbled to the surface yet, and it's why do I feel so strongly about this? It's because I don't feel threatened at the truckstop.

Why?

Well first, outside of a few really bad actors (both TAs in Ontario for instance) I don't generally get that third sense that something might happen. I haven't witnessed any violent crime in a truckstop in the last three years. Now that's subjective, and I might just be overly lucky. I do avoid the places that I feel uncomfortable in, and I usually tend to park in outlying areas, then stage myself into inner city situations. We don't tend to deliver outside of late night/early morning anyway, so its usually off to somewhere I can get a washout after delivery. Its not like I avoid truckstops, limit my visits to daylight hours, or avoid walking over to the C-store/restaurant after dark.

So looking at the Dept. of Justice figures, there's nothing that singles out "truckers" or "truck drivers" as a catagory worth analyzing crime statistics over. I guess that's about as popular with the government crowd as analyzing violence against germs!

So thinking that the denzians of this website would be sensitive to such happennings, I searched on the terms "robbery," "assault," and "murder." The searches are limited to 100 hits. For the last year ending in August 2009 (search limits,) I got 5 hits representing individual crimes. That's about half a years worth - so being generous and multiplying by 4 gives us 20 serious crimes against truckers per year.

One of those hits were trucker vs trucker. That would be 20% of the valid hits. That didn't include the guy that beat his codriver to death in the moving semi up in NY state. The third homicide I found was the driver killed by hitchikers out in CA. And I forgot about Jason Rivenburg.

So violence against truckers doesn't appear to be a huge problem - unless you count all of our grievances against the companies. I know this is in no way scientific, but it does point out something. Either we don't care enough about each other to report these happenings (or maybe the press doesn't care enough to report it,) or we're being overly paranoid about the situation - which may also mean we're being careful enough to avoid the majority of bad situations. I don't think its the former, because we'd be seeing articles screaming about violence against truckers in the mags at the truckstops, LandLine, Heavy Duty Trucking, etc. So, my point is that it's more our own obsession with a problem that isn't - carrying a gun to deter violence is more likely to get you in trouble than to keep you from being robbed.

So carry a gun if you need a security blanket - I really don't have the need for it myself. The thing that is worrysome is that stressed-out trucker vs trucker violence.

 

#### funny thread,. so many internet tough guys,. even the toughest guys can get jumped , beaten,. swarmed etc,. every situation is unique,. can't prepare for them all,.common sense goes a long way to avoiding trouble,.surprise is a key element in a lot of these cases,. common senses will keep you from being surprised,.

JMHO

Nick

 

I get robed every time I step foot in a truck stop

 

ROTFLMAO yes so true!!!

 

So when do you get disrobed?


sorry sorry sorry..I just could not control myself...I'm so baaaddddd

 

Again it seems that people still want to take things out of context and spin them their way... again most people, MOST, do not go around shooting everything and everyone in sight like some of you claim. Most of us are not "paranoid" in truck stops like some of you claim. And where are these internet "tough guys?" The thread was about what you would do in a situation of being robbed at a truck stop. Again I need to remind people that everyone is entitled to their opinion but when someone doesn't agree with yours, it doesn't make them an idiot either.

 

Ok, I'll bite.

"Gimme yur muney!"

Bad guy's got a gun, and the drop on me: I give him the dead presidents.

Bad guy's got a knife, and the drop on me: Depends on the tactical situation, and whether he looks like he can actually handle himself.

Bad guy's got a hammer or something: He's got a fight on his hands.

Am I going to worry about any of this? No. Am I going to go out and get a gun that's illegal most places I go, and could get me fired for having it? No.

 

Ha, yea... I kinda misspelled that, huh?
I usually only get disrobed to shower.. and then run back across the fuel island to get to the truck.

 

Ok whatever.... you keep insisting people are paranoid and scared to walk across a lot.

 

Hey now... this was a simple knife fight,,,, there are places for your thread... over in the classifieds ....