The issue of fuel stealing...a possible solution?

I never tried that brand, but the locking caps I bought last year did not have the covers for the key slot, so of course the winter grit got in and jammed the locks. I was amazed at how easy it was to take them off with just a large pair of channel locks!

Instead of beating the thief to death, perhaps it would be more fitting if they just got to drink a sizeable portion of what they were siphoning!

 

Wheel looking caps doesn't do a thing other than will cause a hole in the tank and much bigger cost than just a fuel.....

Doesn't Volvo US offer Dynafleet? Can be mounted to any brand

http://www.volvotrucks.com/trucks/u...em Dynafleet/pages/dynafleet_online_main.aspx

 

The guy talking about glue, a drop of super glue on / in the lock cylinder, you are locked out!

 

I'm sure something like this can be implemented in the US, but it seems that the level of trust in this country is much higher than anywhere else. Fuel stealing is very popular in Russia and many other countries, and this is talking from personal experience. There's always ways to identify drivers who are stealing, without needing tracking equipment. You can always take miles traveled, divide it by fuel used, and get an average mpg of the truck. If the MPG is significantly lower than what it should be, you can safely assume the driver is stealing. To avoid excuses like "the fuel was stolen while i was in sleeper/birth" you can always invest into a 80$ locking fuel caps... If you see that the driver is stealing, hire him/her! Problem solved

 

If you think the driver is stealing fuel, more times than others he/she probably are...

 

You beat me to it Hanadarko! I was going to mention the same product. Good move.

 

Didnt want to beat them to death, just smash one of their filthy thieving hands, LOL Money for fuel comes out of my pocket and I REALLY HATE THIEVES. I have had this happen to me and it was from a guy that I talked to the night before parked next to me (im pretty sure). He left my fuel cap on the step for me and had my tank drained for me. BTW I like your idea of them getting to drink some

 

The ONLY thing a locking fuel cap is going to do is ensure that the thief damages something when they steal your fuel. If they want it, they are going to get it. The guys that made the attempt at my fuel (luckily they were caught by an off-duty cop working security at the motel before they got the pump fired up) had all sorts of tools with them...to disconnect the crossover line or remove a drain plug and get the fuel that way...or if they were really upset that you were making their life "difficult" with a locking cap, they'd just punch a hole in your tank and drain the fuel. Then you're sitting there needing the hole patched before you can put any fuel in to roll out.

Personally, I just make sure that I time my fuel stops so that when I shut down for the night (especially if I'm not going to make it home) I'm down to 1/8 to 1/4 tank. A potential thief can easily remove the non-locking fuel cap and see that there isn't enough fuel in there to make it worth their while stealing it, so they move on to the next truck.

The ONLY 100% sure-fire fuel theft deterrent is to not have any fuel in the tanks to steal.

...and as for siphoning, they don't suck on a hose to get the flow started. The guys that tried taking my fuel had a pump mounted under their bunk with a quick-connect for the intake through the floor, and a hose coming through the cab floor right above their own fuel tank for the outflow. They'd run a hose over to the truck they were going to steal the fuel from and drop one end into that truck's tank, then connect the other end to the quick-connect under their sleeper. With the flip of a switch, they'd pump the fuel out of your tank and directly into their own. The guys that got caught had a hose long enough that they could park and reach across 2 trucks to get to the 3rd if they needed to...so it may not even be the guy next to you that hit you. It would be nice, though, if the DOT (when performing roadside inspections) would notice hoses and quick-connects poking through cab and bunk floors and investigate where they lead. In most places, possession of burglary tools is a felony...and I'm not sure there is a legal explanation for a pump designed to take fuel from anonymous sources and put it into your fuel tank. Suspicion of fuel theft ought to automatically trigger an IFTA audit, too...

The more difficult it is to "get away with it", and the more severe the consequences are if they are caught (even if not caught red-handed), the less attractive it becomes to make the attempt. The guys who tried to get my fuel probably did more time on the bootlegging & illegal transportation of alcohol in a CMV charges than they did for the attempted fuel theft.

 

If you worked half as hard as that company owner did to get where he is AND if you quit spending money you don't have to, you would be able to drive a BMW also but your post suggests that this will never happen.