Truck thieves take millions in electronics

Believe it or not it does happen,not a hole lot unless its an't reported on the news but it does happen.

 

And here I thought that Truck Stops were safe. Better keep your guard up during the Holidays.

 

I stopped at a Loves and one of the tire guys came over and was telling me a few nights before, a trailer, loaded with laptops had been broken into and the thieves unloaded it from one trailer and moved it two spots over to another waiting trailer. They did this while the driver was sleeping. You could see the path worn in the grass from one parking spot to the other.

 

if the driver stopped within 200mi of pick up it's all his fault and may loose his job.. i do alot of computer loads, and they tell us at pickup that we can't stop within 200mi of the plant. i can't even load or swap trailers if i have less then six hours on my clock and less then a quarter tank of fuel..

and so much for the trailer that got unloaded.. you'd have to be sleeping pretty hard not to notice a 140lb person moving around in your wagon, especially once they made it atop of the drivers. unless it was oliver twist and the gang.

 

It's this easy- you carry an ignition switch with the key in it for whatever model truck you're going to steal. Put your coat, a blanket or pillow up to the window and give it a sharp rap from a glass breaking tool (hammer with one sharp pointed end). No one notices the noise from the hammer hitting the window because it's muffled by the cloth. Open the door, climb in. Unplug the ignition switch behind the dash- plug it into the back of the switch you brought with you- start the engine and go.

Airbrake handle lock? A really hard swing of a 2.5 Lb hammer will sever the lock and handles at the base. You pull out a pair of needlenose pliers and use it to pull out the brake valves (minus the handles).

Steering wheel lock? Just use bolt cutters to cut the steering wheel near one end of the lock. Bend the steering wheel, work the lock out of the cut wheel and toss it out the window.

That's just some of the easy ways your big truck and trailer can be gone in seconds. It can be done much faster.

 

in all honesty there's noting a driver can do to keep someone from taking a load, they gonna get it if they really want it.. all we can do is make it take longer.. lock a door, they break a window.. glad hand lock, they bring vice grips and another glad hand, parking brake lock, they bring big hammer or batt powered jig saw, steering wheel lock, batt powered jig saw. hell i've seen guys tow trucks from under trailers when they couldn't get the truck started.. were they stealing the load, or was the truck just broke down.. i don't know, i needed no answers, so i asked no questions.. all i can say is that i didn't see anyone layin on the ground with blunt trauma wounds to the head.

 

Thats why most companies use teams for these loads-you dont stop, except short breaks and fueling, and one driver is always with the load.

 

Ignition and door locks on class 8 trucks use one of the least secure locking mechanisms in existence (waffer tumbler locks). Besides forcing with a heavy duty slotted screw driver, or forcibly removing the lock cylinder with a dent puller; master keys are easy to get for heavy trucks and heavy equipment.

The newer model trucks have "better" locks, but not much.

Locks keep honest people honest - that's all.

Also. and I know this from experience (no I don't steal trucks) - most locks on a truck, from ignition, to king pin lock; can be picked in seconds, even by a semi-skilled lock picker.

This group of thieves must do this professionally. They obviously have "intel" on the trucks, and their where abouts. Often times, a dispatcher can be involved, even the driver...

 

Could keeping serial numbers of all the computers make them inoperable when they try to go on line?
Stolen cell phones can be identified and companies refuse to activate them.