Is OTR Tanking safer from robbery, theft, etc. than other types of trucking?

If anyone wants my 6122 or 3257 (non Hazmat, sorda hot) let them have at it. The PTO is in my truck, in my clutch, per se.... so yeah. Nobody messes with my stuff. I'm not OTR anymore, but sure was, for many of my 20 plus years. How about ask @slim shady who messes with HIS stuff?

 

You have to watch where you stop, a good part of town is generally safe, a ghetto in Detroit is unsafe.
Most truckstops are safe, a few aren't

 

Sometimes ghetto are safer than a rich neighborhood. I've delivered in Detroit and Chicago numerous times and had no issues at all.

 

I spent awile as a tanker tanker hauling fuel and didn't care for being harrassed at station drops in the ghetto .
Other than my year of pulling a flatbed the other 30 years has been east coast reefer work with a short stretch of California .
I've never been messed with on reefer work .

 

I am not too concerned with safety much anymore. But in my time it was normal to go into some really dangerous places. Possibly more so than most drivers. And for that reason ive been told that Im somewhat damaged and it's understandable.

Tankers are not too attractive to the bad guys unless they learn to interpret the UN 4 digit number on that diamond placard and understand exactly what you have inside that tanker. Tankers generally load and unload in secure places where the bad guys are usually kept out. So it's actually better in some ways than general trucking.

My advice to you is to practice being safe and keep your eyes open 360 degrees 24/7. There are many old time problems such as people under your or someone's trailer with a ball bat or two ready to take you out or perhaps a two person team, one to distract you a moment which is long enough for man number two to take you out.

What with the electronic money floating around these days, there is not as much cash on hand generally.

Finally but not least, if you are cautious about people coming up to you; say inside the Atlanta Petro's Fuel Line with a story about being gipped or taken advantage of by some other trucker it's literally not your problem unless you allow it to be. You tell the man, go away, I have nothing at all for you. I cannot help you. If you are really hurt and need help call the Law. I have no time for you. Go away.

And then work on it if it should be deescalated or escalated towards violence. Usually it should deescalate.

IF I was to have a security problem its going to be from the Parasite or Predator who does not go away when told that there is nothing for them. Ive already had several go arounds with them and my spouse got followed twice. Once the predator got inside our cab nicely but my own actions caused him to flee in fear of his life which might have ended messy right there and then. Either way it's over pretty fast thankfully. There were two in Calumet who would not let go at the old 76 there. I hope that truckstop is gone now it to me was a truly bad place to stop at in the beginning. Those two probably nursed a few lumps a few weeks thanks to me. It could have gone really badly that day. But it was bad enough.

Im more disturbed by insurance scammers who fill a vehicle with strangers then pick me as a target to stop short in front of to force me to hit them and god only knows if there is death, serious injury and loss of my freedom at that point The last time a VW Rabbit type vehicle tried that was on the Cross Bronx southbound right around the Throgs Neck Interchange towards the GW Bridge in the heavy rain, what the VW rabbit did not count on was two things. No traffic and my ABS on the FFE tractor and trailer. I used the ABS very heavily and slowed enough to get around him even though he already set up the situation by stopping short in that center lane. His behavior prior to his passing me, eyeballing and so on had me warned that something was going on.

Finally but not last. If you have not bought a dash cam for your vehicle do it today. Tonight. No excuses. We were in our personal car a few nights ago last week, two people ran across the freeway being idiots in rush hour traffic and one got across, the other decided wisely to fall down onto his butt next to my drivers door in a cloud of brake smoke as the herd of rush hour cars with me and behind me all went crazy themselves. It's a wonder no one hit anyone. Should have.... if you think about it.

So, Dash cam is your friend. Have it in there tonight.

 

I've never had any issue van or tanker. And I've stopped in west Memphis lol. But only in the daylight.

 

When I hauled propane once in a while a dog would mess with me , I'd just open the hose valve up on em lol

 

It's safe just be aware of your surroundings and carry a North American arms .22 can put it anywhere it's so small.

 

I drove chemical tanks OTR and food grade for a "mom & pop" local/regional.

Never had anyone mess with the load. One thing I did notice, though, is that very often a chemical tank has dangerous stuff you unload in a safe place, and food grade is safe stuff unloaded in a sometimes dangerous place.

A lot of the foodgrade unloaded in downtown areas, at places that had been there since the early 1900s, and the neighborhoods just went to crap around them as the manufacturing base dissolved. A lot of these places are an unmarked 3-1/2 inch pipe connector in the side of an ancient brick building. We used to go to a Snapple bottler on 33rd Street in Baltimore, and the thugs and welfare queens would come swarming out like ants. Got my lunch and newspaper stolen out of my truck a few times there (had to walk around the corner to the main entrance to drop off the paperwork), and got hit up for money every time. It was worse at night, and I'd sit up on top of the tank with my milk wrench in my lap to bonk anyone bold enough to climb the tank ladder to accost me. At another receiver in Baltimore they told me, "If you see someone standing around out there when you pull up, it's not one of us so don't even get out of the truck. If they don't leave after a while, just go down to the Port Truck Stop and give us a call so we know what's going on. Then we'll call the cops, and you call back in a half hour or so to see if the cops showed up." Needless to say, that was a daylight delivery whenever possible.

When I drove gas, I got approached at the gas stations sometimes, generally I could hold 'em at bay with the tank stick while they stated their business. I heard some of the guys who delivered in DOWN-town DEE-troit used to crack a valve and drop a quart or so of gas into their slop bucket, and threaten to throw it at any persistent nuisances. I am told that once you start threatening to throw gas, that's the end of the problem.

I miss tanker work.....