Stolen fuel close call

[movinit]

Had what appeared to be a fuel thieving close call the other night. I pulled into a truck stop in Louisiana late the other night and found a spot that was semi-lit up. My wife was asleep so I didn't turn on the lights after pulling the wrap around curtains. I sometimes like to sit in the passenger seat in the dark with no music or anything after a long time of driving to just chill before going to sleep. I had been sitting there approximately half an hour, when I hurt a sound on the driver’s side which was also the darker side. I quietly got up and moved the curtain just enough where I could see in the mirror. There was a person standing between our truck and the next almost to the front of the trailer, he appeared to be looking towards the door. I couldn't quite make out what was in his hands however it did look like it could have been a hose. I turned on the back utility lights and the thief high tailed it out of there. I sat there watching for the next hour and he never returned, I finally went to bed but I left the utility lights on all night.

Has anyone else had fuel stolen? Close calls? What are you all doing to prevent it?

[Windwalker]

When I was driving an International, prevention was easy. The fuel cap on an International screws on. Simply take a BIG pair of channel-locking pliers and give the cap an extra quarter turn. You'll need them to take the cap off again. Won't come off without them, and most thieves do not carry them. With the "twist-lock", you're about screwed.

[Cluggy619]

Now there's an ideal....

Locking fuel caps for big rigs.

With the price of diesel going up, expect more fuel to be stolen.

With locking fuel caps, you could save a bundle on the first attempt on your fuel.

Big money with this idea. :rock: arty: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[Drew10]

I had fuel stolen from my tanks in Porter Indianas TA a couple years ago.
When I utilized a Truck Stop for my 10hr breaks my routine was to refuel the truck then go park for the night.
I drive for one of the mega careers (Werner for those who dont know yet) and I believe that thefts profile fleets like Werner are probably very susceptible to getting their tanks syphoned.
It was a nice evening and I didnt have to idle for comfort. Next morning during the pretrip, when I started the truck the fuel gauge read 1/2 full. I opened both tanks and with a flash light was able to see each tank had about half syphoned out. Also the chain keep for 1 of the caps was broken.
It was pretty amazing that they managed to syphon from both tanks while I was sleeping as each tank is immediately below the sleeper.
I notified Werner, and the TA. Werner wanted a police report. So I had to call the Locals out to get one. I topped the truck off again. 110gallons was stolen.
I have changed my habit about fueling before my 10hr break. I now wait till my break is over to fuel...actually a two fold reason...helps prevent theft (if they do take any, they wont get as much and the thefts wont see me fueling then go park, and I can combine my VI with the fueling for logging purpose.

[JeffTheTerrible]

I don't recall it ever being stolen out of my truck, but we did have someone who kept coming by and stealing fuel from the bulk storage tank in our yard. Whoever is the last to arrive in the yard (and, consequentially, the last to fill up) is supposed to flip the breaker off which provides power to the fuel pump, but they forget to do this sometimes. Before I was called up and deployed, the company I was working for had already lost an estimated $2k in stolen fuel for the year 2007.

[Windwalker]

Now there's an ideal....

Locking fuel caps for big rigs.

With the price of diesel going up, expect more fuel to be stolen.

With locking fuel caps, you could save a bundle on the first attempt on your fuel.

Big money with this idea. :rock: arty: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

It was done at a bus company I worked for years ago. Needed a key to take the cap off and fuel it up. Well, since they couldn't get the cap off, they poured in a whole little container of SUPER-GLUE into the key-hole. Next time we had to fuel up that bus, WE had to break into the fuel fill. It took more than an hour for the mechanic to get it off.

[DaveP]

When I was driving an International, prevention was easy. The fuel cap on an International screws on. Simply take a BIG pair of channel-locking pliers and give the cap an extra quarter turn. You'll need them to take the cap off again. Won't come off without them, and most thieves do not carry them. With the "twist-lock", you're about screwed.

Good idea...!

[movinit]

Channel locks good idea!

It seems these fuel thieves won't stop even at the risk of explosion. Read this link, especially if you park your personal vehicle for long term somewhere.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,3350362.story

[Windwalker]

Even with a cordless drill, and a plastic tank, there is a slight arcing between the brushes and the commutator inside the drill. That can ignite any fumes that get into the drill and cause a fire too. That could mean, goodbye drill, goodbye car, goodbye drill, and maybe even goodbye thief.

Sort of a mixed blessing... Why'd you have to lose the car to get rid of the thief?

[JeffTheTerrible]

If you drove a POS like mine, you'd come to the conclusion that it was worth it, especially to see a would-be thief turn into a crispy critter.

[Windwalker]

Cars are not the only things at risk. When I lived in WI, I had a John Deere BULLDOZER with a gas engine. Used it to move the snow out of the yard in winter, and other things in summer. One day, I filled it with gas and worked it for about an hour and planed to finish the rest in the morning. But, in the morning, the tank was empty. Again, I filled the tank and nearly finished what I was doing., I left it parked there, near the road, but this time, I drained all the gas out of it, and turned off the gas line. Nearly filled it with water, and about a quart of gas on top.

The next morning, there were two cars parked on the side of the road with the hoods up.Four kids in their late teens were trying their level best to get them running again. On my way into town, I stopped to see if I could "help" They had the aircleaners off, and you could look into the carbs and see all the litle droplets of water I even hooked up jumper cabl;es for them to be able to crank the engines more (and burn out the starters). The finally had to have them towed away, and I was never missing gas again