Truck getting pranked or sabotaged

Husband had fuel stolen by a o/o at his last company worked. Guy nicely left the fuel cap off so it would be noticed and you would know you didn't have as much fuel as you thought; this was at a T/A in VA, and then he had fuel taken at a FLying J while we were inside eating.

 

Never had my truck monkeyed with, but I've heard and seen some real doozies. Saw a guy in Gary wandering around pulling 5th wheel pins on random trucks. I spooked him off (big guy, LOUD voice) and left notes on all the trucks I saw him hit so the driver's were aware. Of course, this meant the driver would take the note seriously enough to take the required three seconds to actually look, which is apparently too much time for some. Ol' JB was in too big a hurry. Watched the driver read the note, crumple it up and toss it, hop in and leave. He didn't get too far, though. Guess he shoulda read the note, huh?

 

The guys who pull Swift kingpins are usually other Swift drivers. It was happening at their terminals. And the Swift Volvos came were ordered without handbrakes. It was like an epidemic at Swift. After working at Swift, I always pull against the kingpin if I had gotten out of the truck.

 

Anytime someone messes with your equipment like that, check with the truckstop and see if they have any security video of the lot, some places do. If it is something of a serious nature like the reefer being shutoff, a seal that has been tampered with, or something that you could be written up for, call the local sheriff or police department and have them make a report and give you a copy to CYA, every little it of cover helps. For anyone reading this thread it is a good practice to ALWAYS check your fifthwheel to make sure that it has not been tampered with, if I just go in to get a quick sandwich, I always do a walk around before leaving. As mentioned above, if you are in the habit of doing it, it could one day save your keester.

 

While working at Swift I had the following happen between 1995 and 1997

5th wheel pulled a lot

Tandems unlocked a lot

Tooth pick and nail shoved into valve stem leaving me a flat tire 3 times

Penny's in the glad hands once

Padlock on my trailer door that had to be cut off once

Spare tire stolen 3 times

Load lock tops stolen once

It just made me a better pre-tripper. I always figured it was a former Swifty pissed off at the world. It was always a delay but never hurt anyone. Now if I have my choice of sleeping in a strip mall/wal-mart or TS I choose the strip mall/wal-mart.

 

It is a shame that people do stunts like this, they don't know if they might cause a deadly accident in the process. Maybe one day it will come back to haunt them someway.

 

I worked for Swift for 2 years...
One time somebody opened the Door on my MT Trailer when I didn't have a lock on it, that's the only time, somebody messed around. (that I noticed anyway )
I want to say it was at the Petro in Hammond La.

Just remembered the Fuel Caps were unscrewed twice on the Drivers Side at the Same Pilot (2 separate times)
Didn't seem like any Fuel was missing though. They had the Anti Siphon Devices in the Tanks, that might have helped.

 

I always put truck in reverse and put pressure on kingpin, even after looking at it.

A friend bought a used tractor at a used truck dealership and found a pump mounted just behind the sleeper. He found the previous owner & asked about it & the guy freely admitted it was used to steal fuel. He bragged it was powerful enough to empty someones fuel tank right into his in just a couple of minutes. My buddy took the pump off and threw it away.

Must really be careful these days.

 

had my fuel cap stolen. not all truckers are bottom of the barrel but there are a lot that are