True crime OTR..

[ChanceMaster]

I know what the perception is...."its a jungle out there"...and that "danger lurks at every turn" . My reality seems very different than that, in almost 2 years of expediting, I haven't experienced any real crime. I wonder if anyone would care to share any true stories of crimes perpetrated against them while living OTR, maybe we can learn from them. What say you ?

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[moose]

no crime witnessing here.

 

[paullud]

I used to cheat on my log book every day when I was paid less, now I drive 2/3 of the miles and earn about $350-400 a week more running legally. Does that count?

I was parked in Jane Lew, WV and some guy came running over to the truck yelling that the news crews and police were on their way and I needed to come check it out. I just looked at him for a couple of seconds and he knew I wasn't getting out, at that point it looked like he signaled to someone else at the back of my truck and took off. I think he was going to lead me away from the truck while his friend ripped me off.

In Tampa my brother and I were parked in a closed down shopping center when a couple of hoodlums from a much larger group of hoodlums approached us, luckily the dogs scared them away when they attempted to intimidate us.

Other than those incidents I have only had the normal lot lizards and occasional pimp or drug dealer bother me. I have slept parked on the side of the street in NYC, Chicago, the middle of nowhere along our southern border, Bakersfield,CA, and many places in between without an issue.

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[Rocketman]

I'll recount as best I can a situation I got MYSELF into when I had my straight truck.

I was in CT and got a load out of Providence, RI area. I was in a rush to make the pickup time, but made it. It's times like this that it's easy to get yourself into the gotta go, gotta go mode and you can let some very important things slip your mind. I noticed some stickers on the freight that said something like "CAUTION HIGH VALUE FREIGHT". That's nothing new, but it was obviously coiled material on pallets, nothing that could be easily damaged or required special care as far as blanket wrap or anything. So, they loaded me, I closed the doors and locked em.

I was going to stay at the dock to get my paperwork and logbooks in order and to call in the loaded information to my carrier...but an LTL driver pulled up and he was obviously needing the one dock at that particular shipper. So I pulled out on the street to let him have the dock (first mistake). This was in an industrial park where there isn't a lot of traffic and plenty of room where trucks can park on the side of the street, etc. So, I did just that. I drove on up the street to a place that looked good to get my business in order before I left out (2nd mistake). Just before the area where I had spotted a place to park was a side street and as I passed it, there was a car pulled up to the stop sign with a few guys in it. I didn't think anything about it, just kept going to my parking spot (another mistake). As I sat there getting my logbooks ready, I notice the car had made a circle and drove by me again, still didn't think much of it (another mistake). When I grab the BOL to call the carrier with my loaded info, I notice more of the CAUTION: HIGH VALUE FREIGHT stuff on the BOL. I looked down at the description and see that I have 8,000 lbs of Beryllium copper onboard. I know from my toolmaking days that this stuff is expensive, really expensive...even in small quantities. And I had 8,000 lbs of it!

Soon after I saw the description of what was on the BOL, I noticed something in my mirror and sure enough, the little car? It was parked behind me, headlights shining up under my truck and the driver was almost up to the back of my truck. I have no idea what his intentions were. I never looked to see if the other guys were in the car or where they were. I just threw everything that was in my hands in the floor and hauled butt. I didn't stop until I was back in CT, at a truckstop, on the fuel island. Then I got out to see if they had tried to do anything. Luckily, I never saw them again and there was no damage.

I made a few mistakes that day. If I had paid closer attention to the caution labels and the BOL as soon as I saw them, I would have known not to leave the dock before I was ready..make the LTL driver wait. That would have been the best solution, but I let it slip. Could have gotten serious. Know what your hauling and be aware of your surroundings...all of the time.

 

[cheri1122]

I got nothing. No crime, no criminals, no close calls - nada. Not in Atlanta, NYC, LA, Miami, Chicago, or even Detroit.
Now I feel like Rodney Dangerfield: can't even get mugged, lol.

 

[paullud]

I forgot about the time I was in Elizabeth, NJ on my way to deliver to a food distribution center. Some other drivers had already been ripped off so my company sent out a message on the QC that we should not accept directions from citizens down there. A guy approached me at a stop light to give me directions that I had not asked for, the directions lead to a low overhead then they pull up behind you and start emptying the trailer.

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[Ragman]

Now I feel like Rodney Dangerfield: can't even get mugged, lol.

You could always mugg yourself.

 

[Lawrence]

I guess I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Saw a Robbery in action at the J in South Atlanta and the local police had their guns drawn at the perps with me in the middle and ducking for cover. All this happened while I was putting out an engine fire on my truck. This was the same evening of the Olympic Park Bombing - where I was stuck in traffic for 4 hours on I-75. True Story.

Delivery was still made on time.

Expediting is so much more and that. LOL!

 

[ChanceMaster]

I forgot about the time I was in Elizabeth, NJ on my way to deliver to a food distribution center. Some other drivers had already been ripped off so my company sent out a message on the QC that we should not accept directions from citizens down there. A guy approached me at a stop light to give me directions that I had not asked for, the directions lead to a low overhead then they pull up behind you and start emptying the trailer.

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I could see myself falling for that one. I can visualize myself thinking " hey ! What a great guy" while being led to the slaughter.

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[Moot]

There's the Helen Massom story: http://www.expeditersonline.com/for...6107-helen-massom-charged-husbands-death.html

 

[ChanceMaster]

We had a whole s/t full of a VERY popular personal tech product ( the latest version ) picked up in the JFK area. That got me to thinking how many people in the whole shipping process had knowledge of my cargo and my destination .

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[BigCat]

We witnessed armed robbery in Denton,tx at the TA. Funny thing is the guys ditched the mask and guns in the car and went in and enjoyed a meal afterwards just before being caught.

A lot of drivers sat back and watched but none of us had cahonies to help the guy when he has a gun drawn on him.


Mayfield Express

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[BigCat]

Btw that happened in the back gravel lot behind the shop. I wouldn't recommend parking back there.


Mayfield Express

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[Rocketman]

I was at the J just north of Houston, TX one night. The parking lot was packed. There was a guy on the cb offering to help drivers find a parking spot. He was in a car and knew a great place just down the road a bit...lol.

 

[ATeam]

Diane and I have occasionally been approached by lot lizards, drug dealers and peddlers of stolen merchandise (we believe) at truck stops. Our truck was once tagged with gang graffiti.

In that instance, in Los Angeles, we were parked in the middle of a weekday across the street from the shipper's loading dock, off the shipper's property, where the shipper told us to park and wait several hours for the freight to be prepared. That was standard practice there. The truck would arrive and only then would the shipper begin to prepare the shipment. The truck body and sleeper were graffitied while we were awake in the sleeper waiting for the shipment. This was not a good area of town. Lots of graffiti was in evidence.

I have a friend who recently had fuel siphoned from his bobtail tractor while parked in a private parking lot.

Another friend was once robbed by a group of men at the Petro in Bordentown. He was on his way to get a shower in the middle of the day. When he took a shortcut between trucks, he found himself surrounded by several men, probably gang members, one of which pinned him against a trailer and frisked him for valuables. All that was lost was a gold chain from around his neck. He was carrying nothing else of value on the way to the shower. He was told to make no complaint to the authorities. That command was enhanced with a death threat.

Another friend had her underwear stolen out of a truck stop laundry. The rest of the clothing was left behind.

I once stopped in a truck stop movie theater on my way back from the showers. When I left, I forgot to pick up my shower bag. When I returned to retrieve it, it was gone. Whoever picked it up kept it for himself instead of leaving it alone or turning it into lost and found.

A tire dealer once convinced me to wait for casing credit on a tire trade-in (long story as to why we agreed). Weeks later, the check had not materialized. It took some effort on our part to get the money we were due. This was a case of attempted fraud by a predator vendor.

I know of fleet owners who have been victimized by drivers who sell good tires off the truck and return the truck with bad tires, and of others who get their trucks back with equipment like CB radios missing that was in the truck when the thief driver got in the truck.

I once listened to a driver in line somewhere who bragged that he gets his equipment like load bars and such by stealing them from other drivers instead of buying his own.

I once met a Volvo dealer who kept the chrome trim for new trucks in his office instead of on the new trucks displayed for sale. He did so because he kept loosing trim to truckers across the street at the truck stop who would come over late at night and steal the chrome.

I know a driver who woke up one morning to find the rear LED lights stolen from his truck.

 

[ChanceMaster]

A team : a few of your experiences are definatly sobering. I wonder if your truck was targeted by the graffiti vandals due to its unique appearance / graphics ? I would like to think otherwise , that a professional appearance would announce that the operator was on top of his/her game. Perhaps the attractiveness of your rig worked against you in that instance, presenting a challenge to the gang.

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[paullud]

I could see myself falling for that one. I can visualize myself thinking " hey ! What a great guy" while being led to the slaughter.

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I guess they are pretty common scams, basically anything to separate you from the truck or get you into a spot where you have nowhere to go. I have never heard of a driver being hurt in these scams so I guess it is best to let them take what they want.

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[ChanceMaster]

Absolutely. I have already formed a firm plan in my mind to surrender the freight if met with bodily harm or deadly force.

My "radar" goes into alert status if I'm approached by someone that's suspicious in nature. Usually a story that's bogus, or an offer that's to good to be true.

I was in Connecticut recently,sleeping in the truck, parked in a nice travel plaza. An early morning knock came from a girl "who was tired" and wondered if she could "just lay in my bunk for awhile". I'm glad that kind of stuff only happens on occasion (to me) .

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[Monty]

The biggest violence I have witnessed in more than 43 years on the road is the continuing "two card monty" .... and you folks keep falling for it!

 

[ATeam]

A team : a few of your experiences are definatly sobering. I wonder if your truck was targeted by the graffiti vandals due to its unique appearance / graphics ? I would like to think otherwise , that a professional appearance would announce that the operator was on top of his/her game. Perhaps the attractiveness of your rig worked against you in that instance, presenting a challenge to the gang.

Since we do not know who tagged the truck, we cannot know what his reasons were (presuming it was a he). We can only speculate.

My theory is that the truck presented a target of opportunity. The graffitied side was facing away from open public view. But someone on foot or a bicycle had easy access. This was gang graffiti, not the artistic type. Bangers frequently use graffiti to mark their turf and send messages. My guess is that someone passing by who is regularly equipped with graffiti writing materials saw and tagged our truck with no more thought given to it than you or I would put into grabbing a quick lunch at a hot dog stand we happened upon.

For the guy who did it, it was not about the truck or the truck's design. It was about using the canvass the white space on the truck presented to show the gang presence at that location.