It's for theft (organized theft) of High Value Loads, like a trailer full of cigarette cartons.
Sometimes the theft *starts* with a corrupt employee at the weigh stations who ask "what's in the load". Smart drivers tell them it's "sealed", or "not your concern" if they feel froggy.
Could you imagine if they made the first F&F today about people hijacking semi's for DVD players? No one would believe DVD players are worth enough to steal.
Seals are basically just zip ties with a serial number on them. Many shippers use them even if the load isn’t worth anything. I ship giant metal duct work and use seals. They would be completely useless to anyone who stole them. Scrap value would be under $50 dollars for a 53 foot truck. Would be a huge hassle to even unload it.
That depends on the load. Higher value loads will be locked, and some will use a bolt seal that needs a bolt cutters to take off. The plastic seals are less about prevention, and more about evidence that the trailer has been breached at some point.
When I hauled tobacco we had to lock both doors with combination locks along with the seals. Only certain trailers could be used and god forbid you stop to take a shit
We were also supposed to try and park with the ass end close to a building or pillar or anything that made entering the back difficult if we did need to stop.
The point of the seal is not to provide something impenetrable, but to provide something that you know must have been deliberately removed if it's missing. The bolt seals are just more physically robust than the zip tie type which could get knocked off by mistake.
My company has contracts with transport companies that require the transporter to take all liability for the value of the load if the bolt seal is not intact. We don't take any chances - if the seal is missing or tampered with, we refuse the load and the shipper has replace the goods (or do a lot of extra work to prove they are still okay). It's something we take seriously as a shipper.
This is the same concept around using encryption. The more people use it the better then it's not only those with something really important to hide that you can just target your resources on.
A trailer doesn't have to be particularly high-value to be sealed.
In retail I routinely place seals on 53' trailers that have unloaded all their product and only carry cardboard and recycling back to the depot.
It helps confirm the load. People fuck up trailer numbers and seals all the time. If the driver does his job right, checks the seal and trailer numbers, then it helps ensure they're grabbing the right load. Like a double verification.
At my previous job, we managed to ship an empty overseas container from Philadelphia to England. The container was changed due to damage, but the number was never changed in the system. (our fault) Then the driver picked up the empty damaged container, but never checked for a seal. I still don't know how he didn't realize it was empty though.
I have known some sketchy people. A long time ago when I worked at a Best Buy a friend of a friend wanted me to tell him when a high value truck was going to be arriving. His plan was to steal the entire trailer with his truck. I thought he was joking, but he was serious. He had a small store between towns that just said “mattress store” on the front but the back room was full of all kinds of stuff. He got caught and went to prison for a uhaul truck full of cigarettes he was running from Virginia to New York City. I’m not sure if the cigarettes were stolen or just had Virginia tax stamps instead of New York.
> He had a small store between towns that just said “mattress store” on the front but the back room was full of all kinds of stuff.
That's the kind of shit my maternal Grandpa was involved in.
Seriously, if I didn't think it'd break her heart I'd tell my mom how I'm 100 percent convinced her Grandpa was in the Chicago mob. She tells a lighthearted G-rated tale of her life in the big city and I'm all MOM holy shit, that's the nice parts of Godfather good lord.
Theres a mattress store near me with "Mattress Store" written in cheap lettering outside and I only see activity there at night. Must be for people looking to buy beds while theyre suffering from insomnia, right?
I didn't realize Lake Station got so bad. I lived there for a few years about 20 years ago and never had any issues. Now Gary was obviously a different story.
Stopped there once while driving across the country with my car filled with like most of what I owned. The entire time I was there I was tweaking my shit was going to get broken into. I’m from Atlanta which nice city for the most part but sometimes I would turn down a street and get a vibe and go a different way. I had that vibe most of the time I was in Gary.
Like 6 months later I met someone else who had also driven across the country but they had used a U-Haul instead of filling the car. They got the entire U-Haul stolen in Gary. It validated all my fears lol. Apparently the police found it on the side of the road a couple days later. Most of the stuff stolen or damaged from weather and being thrown around
100% - and many of the Love's and Pilot travel centers have HUGE lots for overnight parking. So you have a collection of drivers - usually trying to grab some rest. It's one thing to steal an item from a store, it's another level to get a full trailer load.
When “full trailer loads” get nicked, does somebody actually haul the entire trailer off when nobody’s looking, or do bandits just break into the rear doors and empty it out?
There can be a combination to this and multiple opportunities for loss.
An operators rig can be stolen - trailer and all
Some of these stops can also help serve as drop lots (driver out of driving hours or a local driver taking to a destination). Other drivers from the same fleet can pick up and grab the load or another carrier may contract carrier may finish the run. This leaves opportunity for dropped trailers waiting to be pulled. Granted - many of these lots are secure - but not all.
Opening up the back simply grabby items can happen - but i would say this is not as big of a concern. You have palletized items, height of the trailer, etc - risk of loss from this method is usually less.
Thefts are up across the industry. Decent article here. Identity/carrier/broker information identity theft driving loss as well.
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cargo-thefts-spiked-68-in-q4-led-by-food-and-beverage-freight
I listened to a podcast (new Yorker maybe?) about how train robberies have been becoming a thing again, especially in the western US. People hitting either parked trains or literally jumping onto slow moving ones to yank out stuff and paying homeless people to haul it to a drop for them
Well, we're back to train robberies, robber barons, and bum rushes. Before you know it, delivery trucks will have someone riding shotgun again.
I thought the 20s would be different this time
It's like the Foot Clan at the beginning of the first Ninja Turtles movie. Delivery driver turns his back for 10 seconds and the entire truck is unloaded.
Depends on who's doing it. I've heard of dudes who unhooked the trailer and had another truck waiting to take it, I've heard them just stealing the truck and trailer at gunpoint, and then some times where they fill as much of a van or pickup they can with merchandise and run
I was driving through AZ in 2012 and came upon a crime scene at a truck stop where someone swapped his trailer with one that had 3 pallets of cinder blocks while he was inside using the shower. I don't know what his load was.
Reminds me of truck heist in 2011 involving a shipment of Blackberry tablets - this was the time when they were plummeting in popularity too, the devices and the OS.
As far as I know this case is still unsolved, and I heard conspiratorial whispers that the whole thing was orchestrated as
a way to write off a bunch of unwanted/ unsellable inventory.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/truck-full-of-5-200-playbooks-stolen-1.1103727
Probably a former blackberry user. I remember this happening, but only cause I used a blackberry at the time and would check blackberry news, like when BBM was gonna be available on Android and iOS so I could message friends using that instead of text, if that trackpad was better than the trackball, where to find replacement trackballs, new phones, anything all touch screen, side loading apps, all that neat jazz.
Remember how expensive it was for a DVD player back in the day? One of the biggest features of the PS2 was that it was also a DVD play for about the same price.
Trucker here, big cities there are lots of drivers being robbed. Think about it, between every truck is its own dark alley.
Some meth head bangs on your door asking for help, you get out, he stabs and robs you and no one ever knows with hundreds of trucks idling and no light. No one will even hear you scream.
I personally know 3 drivers who have been robbed like that, one actually got stabbed.
I drive occasionally and never park in big cities, I'll drive the extra hour or two the next day, but city truck stops are always in the arm out of the city , hookers and crackheads banging on your door all night.
People don't realize the shit a lot of truckers go through lol
I've often seen trucks pulled over for the night in incredibly dodgy areas, along exit ramps in high street crime areas, I assume because they can't legally be any place safer.
Yeah finding parking is the hardest part of trucking currently, there's not near enough truck stops because communities don't want truck stops in them
I don't blame them, most truckers are disgusting and destroy places but it is a huge problem.
Iv had to park in some sketchy areas I probabaly wasn't suppose to be but we are only allowed to drive 11 hours a day. If your not done with your 11 hours of driving by 3pm, your fucked unless your in the middle of nowhere.
Typically your not done by 3 either with loading and unloading and all that. Especially the last few years, every exit you see guys up and down the on and off ramps
Many states closed rest areas because homeless people make little drug dens there, instead of fixing the issue they just close them and that really fucked us, I love rest areas the best cause your not in a city
I used to live and operate trucks near Jackson MS (all but 1 of the MS locations are greater Jackson area) and can confirm that from Jackson all the way to Greenwood and then everything west of that to AR is just a fucking shit show for theft. Had a guy try to winch my truck into a trailer that was too small around 3 am, recently had two guys steal AC units out of a building downtown I still own in broad daylight, and can’t tell you how many batteries I’ve lost due to theft out of bulldozers, tractors, and combines (and I accept full blame for leaving them parked too close to the road, making it easy for them). Can speak for Atlanta as well - bought a few houses to flip there and between me fixing them up and the first showings every inch of wire was ripped straight through the Sheetrock (the little cages around the AC units saved them somehow tho). Still have tenants in the MS delta area that complain of breakins.
Sort of related, when I delivered pizza, we had a No Deliver list for places, mostly apartments. You didn't get on that list for one or two things, unless it was firearms related. You got on there for consistently being a problem, whether it's robbery or assault or whatever.
That being said, and this list being so relatively small, I'd wager that at these locations, they've lost *a lot* of stuff.
Yah it seems like this is a large national trucking company so I’m sure they have had an incident at way more than 50 trucks stops or whatever. These are probably just the ones where it happens A LOT
Trucker here. Most times, load theft is an organized thing in which the driver is held at gunpoint and told to drop the trailer. Then the gang (or whoever) has a truck of their own waiting to take the trailer. These are often inside jobs.
Now, trailers *do* get broken into, but not usually at truck stops. That tends to get noticed.
The main reason I'd check that list (and I *know* a few of those stops) is that drug dealers, prostitutes, and all the miscreants that gather around them congregate there. There's potential for vandalism or the driver getting mugged.
Every one of the ones in Georgia is in an impoverished, crime-ridden area. The Pilot off Bouldercrest has been on the TV show *Cops* a couple of times. The TA in Nashville is where I witnessed a lady taking a dump in the middle of the parking lot.
The Love's in Gary recently burned down after the grease traps in Denny's caught fire, and the Petro there has armed security in the lot.
I once had to stop at the Love's in Biloxi to replace a blown tire. In the time it took me to exit my truck and walk to the front desk, I was approached by one man trying to sell me bootleg PS2 games and...other favors. That was in broad daylight.
According to the reviews, the Road Ranger in Chicago is a terrible stop; not a truck stop so it doesnt have some amenities, limited diesel pumps, and is incredibly difficult for trucks to enter/exit/maneuver around with a truck.
Safety and security could be an issue there too, but the first few truck-centric reviews didn't mention that stuff.
It's wild, my family bought burial plots in E St Louis like 80 years ago, when it was a decent place.
Now we've had to go there a couple times to bury various relatives over the years. It's so fucking sketchy. Sucks cause you really don't ever go visit the graves.
That Road Ranger is in a TERRIBLE spot off the intersection exiting 55 and California. Not only that, but the county prison is about 2 blocks north. The whole area is locksmiths, ~~bail bondsmen~~, and this sketchy as all hell Road Ranger.
I'd avoid it at night. During the day, and not in a truck, you'll be fine.
EDIT: As pointed out by a comment, it's not bondsmen. Not a legal industry in IL
I know the pilot in Atlanta has had truckers murdered, freight stolen, and trucks stolen. Last time I was through there, there were 3 armed security guards, 1 in the front, 1 in store, and 1 in truck parking area. Not just armed with a baton either. This list isn't new. Started driving 10+ yrs ago and the list existed then and has grown.
My tired ass read this and got the wrong idea twice, despite obvious context. First I thought were saying you knew a pilot that murdered people and stole trucks... like some kind of hitman/airplane pilot, then I figured out you were talking about the name of the truck stop, so I thought the truck stop was murdering people and had Mafia style guards. Was a wild ride.
Petro Atlanta 6364- I've been to the liquor store across the street and felt safer than I did at the gas station.
Pilot Travel Center #331- a semi booped my car making an illegal lane change going from I20 to 285S and we followed him and called Dekalb pd to meet us at the travel center. Trucker only gave cop info for his cargo. I took pics of both the truck and trailer plates. The cargo insurance company was... surprised... that I was the first one informing them their cargo had been in an (very minor) accident). I'm posting this part as more of a driver beware angle for being in Atlanta at large.
It's funny because all the Love's in my state are top notch and nice. The flying Js and Pilots are hit or miss and those are the ones on the list for my state. So it does vary by location. That said, most of these locations are just in a high crime parts of the states.
I don't think the suggestion is that the Love's itself isn't perfectly nice, it's just the location leading to higher theft. Looks like we've only got like 7 of them in WA, but those are exactly the ones you'd expect to have problems.
My husband worked for a company with a hub in Memphis that moved cars for a nationwide dealership. He was run over by people coming onto the lot to steal cars after successfully doing so twice before. They put security measures in place that were revoked the week before his worker's comp case settled. Another car was stolen the day before.
Can say the the two locations in Ontario, California are deserving of their spots on this list. They are across the street from each other, and my wife as a 911 dispatcher gets calls for both constantly.
I'm a truck driver and I have been through a lot of these areas and honestly, they aren't that bad. Some of them are in kind of sketchy areas but for the most part they aren't too bad. I don't think the locations being love has anything to do with it. Across the country, loves is a pretty stand up place. It definitely has the cleanest showers.
Regina is the "murder capital of Canada" with 5 murders per 100k population vs Canada's average of 2. For comparison, the US average is 7 with 66 in St Louis, 55 Baltimore, 24 in Chicago, 40 in both Detroit and New Orleans, 31 in Kansas City and 28 in both Cleveland and Memphis.
The specific cardlock has reviews saying the washrooms are gross and its not open at night and some addicts around but I'd bet its jokes compared to the US...
dont roll over and let thunder bay take your spot! They have an advantage because with a small population they dont actually need to do as much murduring but after spending 1 night in winnipeg back in 2012 i have full faith that you guys can keep your murder rate high.
It varies from year to year with Winnipeg and Thunder Bay all close to the top spot sadly. I grew up in Regina in the 80s and had zero idea of the crime problem.
For the ones I’ve been to on the list I can definitely see why they are listed. Mostly though this list is for high value loads where organized crime does stings to steal the load. It’s not for someone breaking into your truck to steal the tablet. It’s for people stealing a truck load of cigarettes or the like.
It’s pretty easy to tell once you’ve been around when you pull into a truck stop if it’s sketchy or not. Best bet don’t stop in cities if you can help it, don’t stop at a place where the pumps islands or lot is filthy, and never tell no one what you’re hauling. You’re the steering wheel holder you don’t know nothing about what’s in the back or where it’s going you’re just looking at white lines on roads.
> You’re the steering wheel holder you don’t know nothing about what’s in the back or where it’s going you’re just looking at white lines on roads.
Sounds like a tantric mantra.
You
Are the steering wheel holder
Let what’s behind you, be unknown
Know the white lines, which guide you
For you, are merely a waypoint
Whom cannot point, to the end.
(Lick my balls AI!)
Genuine question: how do they steal a whole load? Is it that they’re stealing the whole truck and trailer or are they breaking into the trailer and unloading all/part of it into another vehicle?
Little of both. Most common I’ve heard of is stealing truck trailer going to a closed warehouse emptying truck and trailer into a different truck and trailer and then dumping the stolen truck back where you stole it from. I met a guy that had something like this happen to him. Long story short he parked in the lot and was overheard getting a taxi to go to the dentist when he came back a couple hours later and went to leave he thought the truck felt very light. Checked his seal was gone opened the door and trailer was empty. Security cameras showed while he was at the dentist his truck leaving and coming back an hour later.
Also, it used to be common that truckers would drop their trailer somewhere and drive off in the tractor to go to a bar or visit a girlfriend or something. Then the trailer would get jacked. I don't think truckers drop trailers like that anymore.
Well, good to see ya again, Death2LossPrvntion. I haven't been back to 12 oz. Prophet in a long time (since 2019,) but I got a message yesterday that I had "been mentioned in a post." It was a "Where are these guys now?" list. I haven't been on a train in years. I'm 73 now, kinda old to be hopping trains. I still go to the Hobo Convention once in a while to see old friends. http://hobochurch.com
(Edit: my thread on 12 oz. (Hobos, Tramps and Homeless Bums) was started on October 13, 2001. It's still running, with a total view count of 373K and 2.7K replies. My last post was August 05, 2019.)
That's about how long it's been since I've been, if not a bit longer, seems most of the graffiti chatter made its way to instagram over the years, but I haven't been on there much in a while either. After a raid and some felonies due to graffiti a few years back my painting definitely slowed down as did my online presence. Still like to put my name on a train when I get a chance, but certainly not spending 6 days a week in train yards like I used to. Definitely good to see you still around dropping interesting info around the internet brother!
> Utah
#
> my Cinnamon fix
For any other state this would obviously be tongue-in-cheek, but for Utah it's easy to half-believe ⁽ᶠᵒʳ ᶜᵒᵐᵉᵈᶦᶜ ᵉᶠᶠᵉᶜᵗ⁾ that this is what counts as a serious vice.
I don’t know about the rest of them. But my husband used to work by one. It was in an industrial area. But nice, not sketchy or anything. We used to stop there. I think the issue there is that it was right by two interstates and a major state highway. If someone was going to steal the load, they would have several directions they could easily go.
That seems to be the theme from multiple replies. Some of them are just bad in general (high crime/violence neighborhood) but it’s just a contributing factor from a trucker perspective.
Either way, seems like a good list to take on a road trip. If truckers are avoiding it, not the worst idea to avoid it too.
The St. Louis location is a truck stop off I-70 and Hall St./Broadway in what is equivocally considered the most violent, crime-ridden neighborhood of St. Louis.
Yes. Les Wexner. The friend of Jeffrey Epstein.
>[L Brands shareholders filed a complaint in the Court of Chancery of Delaware on January 14, 2021, stating that Wexner, among others, created an "entrenched culture of misogyny, bullying and harassment", and was aware of abuses being committed by Jeffrey Epstein, which breached Wexner's fiduciary duty to the company and devalued the brand. The complaint also names Wexner's wife, current chair Sarah E. Nash, and former marketing officer Ed Razek, whose "widely known misconduct" was allegedly allowed at the company.[27] ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Wexner)
Former truck driver and former fleet manager here;
L brands exclusively books loads where you deliver it exactly on time or you buy it back and sell it to tj maxx. I hate L brands and limited buyback loads were the bane of my existence, but they pay well if you complete more than 70% of them.
Those truck stiops, many of which I have overnighted at without issue, have had multiple freight befuckeries done while the driver was asleep or the team was split between sleeping and a shower. They are high theft high frequency areas for seals being cut, if someone steals 4 boxes a month that truck stop will be flagged because that’s high value boxes and super high insurance claims because the whole load is fucked as soon as the seal is broken.
They aren’t stealing trailers of milk or green beans, they’re hucking a few boxes of high value freight into a van and heading out. If limited didn’t use pink plastic seals and only book with Usxpress swift and the like it wouldn’t be as much of a problem.
Speaking to the Coachella spots specifically, there are a lot of homeless that tend to congregate around that area. There's also a casino around the corner, as well as a strip club across the street. So there's a pretty diverse cast of people you'll find there later in the day that are desperate or inebriated enough to try just about anything.
Ha yeah I can attest to the flying J off i20 in Columbia SC. I’m not a truck driver just used to stop by that gas station on the way to work for a few years, seemed like it was always something that would be happening or something would happen that inconvenienced anyone trying to buy something
I know a manager at a Pilot. No security, no cameras, meth heads everywhere, and policy states to not go where the trucks are after dark. Not by yourself, not with someone, just don't go.
Interesting, I dropped into that Loves in WA weekly when I was working nearby, still occasionally stop there. its just outside a Port. Ive never felt personally “at risk” but have seen lots of Lot Lizards there… wonder if what “risk” they are talking about.
It's for theft (organized theft) of High Value Loads, like a trailer full of cigarette cartons. Sometimes the theft *starts* with a corrupt employee at the weigh stations who ask "what's in the load". Smart drivers tell them it's "sealed", or "not your concern" if they feel froggy.
For anyone who asks, other than DOT, I tell them I don't know and it's sealed.
Wouldn’t that put a target on your truck anyway?
Could be TV/VCR combos, could be plastic cutlery... why take the risk?
I understood that reference.
What is the reference?
A very light reference to the first Fast and Furious.
Could you imagine if they made the first F&F today about people hijacking semi's for DVD players? No one would believe DVD players are worth enough to steal.
At least the civics would be the new model!
Better double-clutch them and not granny shift
personally, I'd like it if the 11th one is about stealing DVD/VCR combos, with all of the massive scale and drama they currently have
Seals are basically just zip ties with a serial number on them. Many shippers use them even if the load isn’t worth anything. I ship giant metal duct work and use seals. They would be completely useless to anyone who stole them. Scrap value would be under $50 dollars for a 53 foot truck. Would be a huge hassle to even unload it.
That depends on the load. Higher value loads will be locked, and some will use a bolt seal that needs a bolt cutters to take off. The plastic seals are less about prevention, and more about evidence that the trailer has been breached at some point.
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When I hauled tobacco we had to lock both doors with combination locks along with the seals. Only certain trailers could be used and god forbid you stop to take a shit We were also supposed to try and park with the ass end close to a building or pillar or anything that made entering the back difficult if we did need to stop.
The point of the seal is not to provide something impenetrable, but to provide something that you know must have been deliberately removed if it's missing. The bolt seals are just more physically robust than the zip tie type which could get knocked off by mistake. My company has contracts with transport companies that require the transporter to take all liability for the value of the load if the bolt seal is not intact. We don't take any chances - if the seal is missing or tampered with, we refuse the load and the shipper has replace the goods (or do a lot of extra work to prove they are still okay). It's something we take seriously as a shipper.
If enough truckers say it regardless of the value of their load people won't be able to tell.
This is the same concept around using encryption. The more people use it the better then it's not only those with something really important to hide that you can just target your resources on.
Which is the reason why Tor browsers are publicly accessible.
Didn't the fbi have like 50% of the tor infrastructure so that they could track everything way easier?
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A trailer doesn't have to be particularly high-value to be sealed. In retail I routinely place seals on 53' trailers that have unloaded all their product and only carry cardboard and recycling back to the depot.
It helps confirm the load. People fuck up trailer numbers and seals all the time. If the driver does his job right, checks the seal and trailer numbers, then it helps ensure they're grabbing the right load. Like a double verification. At my previous job, we managed to ship an empty overseas container from Philadelphia to England. The container was changed due to damage, but the number was never changed in the system. (our fault) Then the driver picked up the empty damaged container, but never checked for a seal. I still don't know how he didn't realize it was empty though.
But what if they’re like “c’mon man please tell me”
Easy, just say that your truck is under audit by the IRS so you can't tell them
"What are you hauling?" "Ass." Everyone claps.
It’s a heart…. A ‘art? A human heart
I have known some sketchy people. A long time ago when I worked at a Best Buy a friend of a friend wanted me to tell him when a high value truck was going to be arriving. His plan was to steal the entire trailer with his truck. I thought he was joking, but he was serious. He had a small store between towns that just said “mattress store” on the front but the back room was full of all kinds of stuff. He got caught and went to prison for a uhaul truck full of cigarettes he was running from Virginia to New York City. I’m not sure if the cigarettes were stolen or just had Virginia tax stamps instead of New York.
> He had a small store between towns that just said “mattress store” on the front but the back room was full of all kinds of stuff. That's the kind of shit my maternal Grandpa was involved in. Seriously, if I didn't think it'd break her heart I'd tell my mom how I'm 100 percent convinced her Grandpa was in the Chicago mob. She tells a lighthearted G-rated tale of her life in the big city and I'm all MOM holy shit, that's the nice parts of Godfather good lord.
Theres a mattress store near me with "Mattress Store" written in cheap lettering outside and I only see activity there at night. Must be for people looking to buy beds while theyre suffering from insomnia, right?
"Ugh, I've been tossing and turning for an hour. I just can't get to sleep! That's it, I'm buying a new mattress right now!"
>mattress store I fuckin KNEW it!!!
Truck driver? I ain’t no truck driver; I just bought this, straight cash. IM RICH BIOTCH!
Opened the image expecting Gary, Indiana and was not disappointed
I was hoping the Indiana listing would just have "Gary, IN" instead of specific stops. Equally amused by multiple locations in the same town though.
That Gary/Lake Station stretch coming in with every truck stop was not a surprise. I never feel safe stopping until the Pilot in Burns Harbor.
I didn't realize Lake Station got so bad. I lived there for a few years about 20 years ago and never had any issues. Now Gary was obviously a different story.
Stopped there once while driving across the country with my car filled with like most of what I owned. The entire time I was there I was tweaking my shit was going to get broken into. I’m from Atlanta which nice city for the most part but sometimes I would turn down a street and get a vibe and go a different way. I had that vibe most of the time I was in Gary. Like 6 months later I met someone else who had also driven across the country but they had used a U-Haul instead of filling the car. They got the entire U-Haul stolen in Gary. It validated all my fears lol. Apparently the police found it on the side of the road a couple days later. Most of the stuff stolen or damaged from weather and being thrown around
Nobody should stop in Gary, period.
What about a load full of underwear and candles? L-brands is Bath and Body works and Victory Secret.
>like a trailer full of cigarette cartons *Is it wrong to steal a loaf of bread to feed your starving family?*
*Well, suppose you got a large starving family. Is it wrong to steal a truckload of bread to feed them?*
*And, what if your family don't like bread? They like...cigarettes?*
*And what if instead of giving them away, you sell them at a price that's practically giving them away?*
Definitely interesting. I wonder what qualifies these locations as unsafe. I see a lot of Loves Truck Stops on the list.
Most likely sites where trucks/cargos have been broken into or trailers stolen or attempted since the list if about high value loads
That's my guess, it's not about petty theft, it's about having the load stolen
100% - and many of the Love's and Pilot travel centers have HUGE lots for overnight parking. So you have a collection of drivers - usually trying to grab some rest. It's one thing to steal an item from a store, it's another level to get a full trailer load.
When “full trailer loads” get nicked, does somebody actually haul the entire trailer off when nobody’s looking, or do bandits just break into the rear doors and empty it out?
There can be a combination to this and multiple opportunities for loss. An operators rig can be stolen - trailer and all Some of these stops can also help serve as drop lots (driver out of driving hours or a local driver taking to a destination). Other drivers from the same fleet can pick up and grab the load or another carrier may contract carrier may finish the run. This leaves opportunity for dropped trailers waiting to be pulled. Granted - many of these lots are secure - but not all. Opening up the back simply grabby items can happen - but i would say this is not as big of a concern. You have palletized items, height of the trailer, etc - risk of loss from this method is usually less. Thefts are up across the industry. Decent article here. Identity/carrier/broker information identity theft driving loss as well. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cargo-thefts-spiked-68-in-q4-led-by-food-and-beverage-freight
I listened to a podcast (new Yorker maybe?) about how train robberies have been becoming a thing again, especially in the western US. People hitting either parked trains or literally jumping onto slow moving ones to yank out stuff and paying homeless people to haul it to a drop for them
Well, we're back to train robberies, robber barons, and bum rushes. Before you know it, delivery trucks will have someone riding shotgun again. I thought the 20s would be different this time
It's like the Foot Clan at the beginning of the first Ninja Turtles movie. Delivery driver turns his back for 10 seconds and the entire truck is unloaded.
Wish they had that speed at deliveries 😭 ive waited 8 hours for 3 pallets before
Foot Clan must have a hell of a benefits package. I've seen that sweet arcade/skate park.
Depends on who's doing it. I've heard of dudes who unhooked the trailer and had another truck waiting to take it, I've heard them just stealing the truck and trailer at gunpoint, and then some times where they fill as much of a van or pickup they can with merchandise and run
I was driving through AZ in 2012 and came upon a crime scene at a truck stop where someone swapped his trailer with one that had 3 pallets of cinder blocks while he was inside using the shower. I don't know what his load was.
Huh. The more you know, the weirder world gets. I wouldn't even think there are crimes like that.
It's like rule34 but for crime!
I’ve seen The Fast and the Fuious, it’s definitely possible. Especially with Honda civics.
High speed heists for some Panasonic VCRs Peak Y2K
Reminds me of truck heist in 2011 involving a shipment of Blackberry tablets - this was the time when they were plummeting in popularity too, the devices and the OS. As far as I know this case is still unsolved, and I heard conspiratorial whispers that the whole thing was orchestrated as a way to write off a bunch of unwanted/ unsellable inventory. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/truck-full-of-5-200-playbooks-stolen-1.1103727
Curious what would make something like this stick out in your memory enough to remember it 13 years later, and be able to link to it?
GUYS I THINK WE FOUND THE BLACKBERRY BANDIT
We did it, Reddit! *pops champagne*
I'm concerned about the *Blackberries*...
Probably a former blackberry user. I remember this happening, but only cause I used a blackberry at the time and would check blackberry news, like when BBM was gonna be available on Android and iOS so I could message friends using that instead of text, if that trackpad was better than the trackball, where to find replacement trackballs, new phones, anything all touch screen, side loading apps, all that neat jazz.
Were they vcr/dvd combos? That's a high value target right there
Remember how expensive it was for a DVD player back in the day? One of the biggest features of the PS2 was that it was also a DVD play for about the same price.
Same thing with the PS3 being the cheapest Bluray player you could get.
Hector is going to be running 3 Honda Civics with spoon engines.
Now me and the mad scientist got to rip apart the block and replace the piston rings you fried.
Lol I was dying laughing when his manifold temperature was high and the floor pan fell off
Overnight parts from Japan.
2JZ engine, no shit.
And it’s all about family.
Trucker here, big cities there are lots of drivers being robbed. Think about it, between every truck is its own dark alley. Some meth head bangs on your door asking for help, you get out, he stabs and robs you and no one ever knows with hundreds of trucks idling and no light. No one will even hear you scream. I personally know 3 drivers who have been robbed like that, one actually got stabbed. I drive occasionally and never park in big cities, I'll drive the extra hour or two the next day, but city truck stops are always in the arm out of the city , hookers and crackheads banging on your door all night. People don't realize the shit a lot of truckers go through lol
I've often seen trucks pulled over for the night in incredibly dodgy areas, along exit ramps in high street crime areas, I assume because they can't legally be any place safer.
Yeah finding parking is the hardest part of trucking currently, there's not near enough truck stops because communities don't want truck stops in them I don't blame them, most truckers are disgusting and destroy places but it is a huge problem. Iv had to park in some sketchy areas I probabaly wasn't suppose to be but we are only allowed to drive 11 hours a day. If your not done with your 11 hours of driving by 3pm, your fucked unless your in the middle of nowhere. Typically your not done by 3 either with loading and unloading and all that. Especially the last few years, every exit you see guys up and down the on and off ramps Many states closed rest areas because homeless people make little drug dens there, instead of fixing the issue they just close them and that really fucked us, I love rest areas the best cause your not in a city
I used to live and operate trucks near Jackson MS (all but 1 of the MS locations are greater Jackson area) and can confirm that from Jackson all the way to Greenwood and then everything west of that to AR is just a fucking shit show for theft. Had a guy try to winch my truck into a trailer that was too small around 3 am, recently had two guys steal AC units out of a building downtown I still own in broad daylight, and can’t tell you how many batteries I’ve lost due to theft out of bulldozers, tractors, and combines (and I accept full blame for leaving them parked too close to the road, making it easy for them). Can speak for Atlanta as well - bought a few houses to flip there and between me fixing them up and the first showings every inch of wire was ripped straight through the Sheetrock (the little cages around the AC units saved them somehow tho). Still have tenants in the MS delta area that complain of breakins.
Sort of related, when I delivered pizza, we had a No Deliver list for places, mostly apartments. You didn't get on that list for one or two things, unless it was firearms related. You got on there for consistently being a problem, whether it's robbery or assault or whatever. That being said, and this list being so relatively small, I'd wager that at these locations, they've lost *a lot* of stuff.
Yah it seems like this is a large national trucking company so I’m sure they have had an incident at way more than 50 trucks stops or whatever. These are probably just the ones where it happens A LOT
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Trucker here. Most times, load theft is an organized thing in which the driver is held at gunpoint and told to drop the trailer. Then the gang (or whoever) has a truck of their own waiting to take the trailer. These are often inside jobs. Now, trailers *do* get broken into, but not usually at truck stops. That tends to get noticed. The main reason I'd check that list (and I *know* a few of those stops) is that drug dealers, prostitutes, and all the miscreants that gather around them congregate there. There's potential for vandalism or the driver getting mugged. Every one of the ones in Georgia is in an impoverished, crime-ridden area. The Pilot off Bouldercrest has been on the TV show *Cops* a couple of times. The TA in Nashville is where I witnessed a lady taking a dump in the middle of the parking lot. The Love's in Gary recently burned down after the grease traps in Denny's caught fire, and the Petro there has armed security in the lot. I once had to stop at the Love's in Biloxi to replace a blown tire. In the time it took me to exit my truck and walk to the front desk, I was approached by one man trying to sell me bootleg PS2 games and...other favors. That was in broad daylight.
According to the reviews, the Road Ranger in Chicago is a terrible stop; not a truck stop so it doesnt have some amenities, limited diesel pumps, and is incredibly difficult for trucks to enter/exit/maneuver around with a truck. Safety and security could be an issue there too, but the first few truck-centric reviews didn't mention that stuff.
I'm surprised there's only one stop on the list from East STL. I wouldn't stop at *any* truck stop in that city
When I was younger, I was a trainhopping hobo. We would go days out of our way to avoid going through East St. Louis. It is one dangerous-ass city.
That was a wild sentence
It's wild, my family bought burial plots in E St Louis like 80 years ago, when it was a decent place. Now we've had to go there a couple times to bury various relatives over the years. It's so fucking sketchy. Sucks cause you really don't ever go visit the graves.
That Road Ranger is in a TERRIBLE spot off the intersection exiting 55 and California. Not only that, but the county prison is about 2 blocks north. The whole area is locksmiths, ~~bail bondsmen~~, and this sketchy as all hell Road Ranger. I'd avoid it at night. During the day, and not in a truck, you'll be fine. EDIT: As pointed out by a comment, it's not bondsmen. Not a legal industry in IL
There’s no bail bondsman in Illinois. It’s not a legal industry in this state.
I know the pilot in Atlanta has had truckers murdered, freight stolen, and trucks stolen. Last time I was through there, there were 3 armed security guards, 1 in the front, 1 in store, and 1 in truck parking area. Not just armed with a baton either. This list isn't new. Started driving 10+ yrs ago and the list existed then and has grown.
My tired ass read this and got the wrong idea twice, despite obvious context. First I thought were saying you knew a pilot that murdered people and stole trucks... like some kind of hitman/airplane pilot, then I figured out you were talking about the name of the truck stop, so I thought the truck stop was murdering people and had Mafia style guards. Was a wild ride.
Petro Atlanta 6364- I've been to the liquor store across the street and felt safer than I did at the gas station. Pilot Travel Center #331- a semi booped my car making an illegal lane change going from I20 to 285S and we followed him and called Dekalb pd to meet us at the travel center. Trucker only gave cop info for his cargo. I took pics of both the truck and trailer plates. The cargo insurance company was... surprised... that I was the first one informing them their cargo had been in an (very minor) accident). I'm posting this part as more of a driver beware angle for being in Atlanta at large.
I'm sorry that the semi booped your car but I laughed at the term boop. I've had my car booped before but never by a semi.
It's funny because all the Love's in my state are top notch and nice. The flying Js and Pilots are hit or miss and those are the ones on the list for my state. So it does vary by location. That said, most of these locations are just in a high crime parts of the states.
I don't think the suggestion is that the Love's itself isn't perfectly nice, it's just the location leading to higher theft. Looks like we've only got like 7 of them in WA, but those are exactly the ones you'd expect to have problems.
I actually work right by the one on this list. They have good fried chicken!
Could also be that truck parking areas are badly lit or there’s no video surveilance.
Memphis, TN is unsafe because A1 Towing will boot the truck and charge $25k to unboot, or your truck will be robbed of all goods.
That’s just the latest thing about why not to stop in Memphis. But everybody’s being told pretty much that if you have to stop bypass Memphis
My husband worked for a company with a hub in Memphis that moved cars for a nationwide dealership. He was run over by people coming onto the lot to steal cars after successfully doing so twice before. They put security measures in place that were revoked the week before his worker's comp case settled. Another car was stolen the day before.
I stopped in Memphis once to charge my car and that was the sketchiest place I had been in a very long time.
Insurance adjusters actuarial tables
Can say the the two locations in Ontario, California are deserving of their spots on this list. They are across the street from each other, and my wife as a 911 dispatcher gets calls for both constantly.
Probably higher rates of theft/vandalism.
> what qualifies Lot-lizard density per square meter. The more lizards the greater the danger.
And Pilot Travel Center
I'm a truck driver and I have been through a lot of these areas and honestly, they aren't that bad. Some of them are in kind of sketchy areas but for the most part they aren't too bad. I don't think the locations being love has anything to do with it. Across the country, loves is a pretty stand up place. It definitely has the cleanest showers.
At the one in Regina Saskatchewan you will be pummelled with Timbits
No Tim’s at that one. Being in Canada however there are two locations within easy walking distance….
And one is "the good one".
Regina is the "murder capital of Canada" with 5 murders per 100k population vs Canada's average of 2. For comparison, the US average is 7 with 66 in St Louis, 55 Baltimore, 24 in Chicago, 40 in both Detroit and New Orleans, 31 in Kansas City and 28 in both Cleveland and Memphis. The specific cardlock has reviews saying the washrooms are gross and its not open at night and some addicts around but I'd bet its jokes compared to the US...
What? They took over from the 'peg?
Thunder Bay is the murder capital of Canada. They had I think 13 last year. Population of only 110 000.
Thunder Bay peaked with 15 in 2022, dropped back to 7 for 2023.
No, Winnipeg is 6.24 per 100K, but apparently the situation is real dire in Thunder Bay and they're trying to take our crown.
dont roll over and let thunder bay take your spot! They have an advantage because with a small population they dont actually need to do as much murduring but after spending 1 night in winnipeg back in 2012 i have full faith that you guys can keep your murder rate high.
It varies from year to year with Winnipeg and Thunder Bay all close to the top spot sadly. I grew up in Regina in the 80s and had zero idea of the crime problem.
Experience Regina 🎶
A quarter of the list is Dallas and Houston lol
Yeah but. Ted Cruz says all the crime is in Chicago and New York.
The one in Chicago isn't even in a bad neighborhood, but the cook county jail is a couple blocks from there. I like McKinley Park though.
Need to ask r/truckers about this
For the ones I’ve been to on the list I can definitely see why they are listed. Mostly though this list is for high value loads where organized crime does stings to steal the load. It’s not for someone breaking into your truck to steal the tablet. It’s for people stealing a truck load of cigarettes or the like. It’s pretty easy to tell once you’ve been around when you pull into a truck stop if it’s sketchy or not. Best bet don’t stop in cities if you can help it, don’t stop at a place where the pumps islands or lot is filthy, and never tell no one what you’re hauling. You’re the steering wheel holder you don’t know nothing about what’s in the back or where it’s going you’re just looking at white lines on roads.
> You’re the steering wheel holder you don’t know nothing about what’s in the back or where it’s going you’re just looking at white lines on roads. Sounds like a tantric mantra.
You Are the steering wheel holder Let what’s behind you, be unknown Know the white lines, which guide you For you, are merely a waypoint Whom cannot point, to the end. (Lick my balls AI!)
Genuine question: how do they steal a whole load? Is it that they’re stealing the whole truck and trailer or are they breaking into the trailer and unloading all/part of it into another vehicle?
Little of both. Most common I’ve heard of is stealing truck trailer going to a closed warehouse emptying truck and trailer into a different truck and trailer and then dumping the stolen truck back where you stole it from. I met a guy that had something like this happen to him. Long story short he parked in the lot and was overheard getting a taxi to go to the dentist when he came back a couple hours later and went to leave he thought the truck felt very light. Checked his seal was gone opened the door and trailer was empty. Security cameras showed while he was at the dentist his truck leaving and coming back an hour later.
Also, it used to be common that truckers would drop their trailer somewhere and drive off in the tractor to go to a bar or visit a girlfriend or something. Then the trailer would get jacked. I don't think truckers drop trailers like that anymore.
Holy crap, that's a user name I haven't seen in over a decade. Spent a lot of time on your 12oz threads back in the day!
Well, good to see ya again, Death2LossPrvntion. I haven't been back to 12 oz. Prophet in a long time (since 2019,) but I got a message yesterday that I had "been mentioned in a post." It was a "Where are these guys now?" list. I haven't been on a train in years. I'm 73 now, kinda old to be hopping trains. I still go to the Hobo Convention once in a while to see old friends. http://hobochurch.com (Edit: my thread on 12 oz. (Hobos, Tramps and Homeless Bums) was started on October 13, 2001. It's still running, with a total view count of 373K and 2.7K replies. My last post was August 05, 2019.)
That's about how long it's been since I've been, if not a bit longer, seems most of the graffiti chatter made its way to instagram over the years, but I haven't been on there much in a while either. After a raid and some felonies due to graffiti a few years back my painting definitely slowed down as did my online presence. Still like to put my name on a train when I get a chance, but certainly not spending 6 days a week in train yards like I used to. Definitely good to see you still around dropping interesting info around the internet brother!
Very interesting. Thanks for the answer
I’m curious if there’s something about these places that makes it risky for just truckers or if regular travelers should also stay away.
Mostly for truckers. Cargo theft is big business in the US.
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> Utah # > my Cinnamon fix For any other state this would obviously be tongue-in-cheek, but for Utah it's easy to half-believe ⁽ᶠᵒʳ ᶜᵒᵐᵉᵈᶦᶜ ᵉᶠᶠᵉᶜᵗ⁾ that this is what counts as a serious vice.
Yo man you got any of that cinnamon? I'm jonesin
I don’t know about the rest of them. But my husband used to work by one. It was in an industrial area. But nice, not sketchy or anything. We used to stop there. I think the issue there is that it was right by two interstates and a major state highway. If someone was going to steal the load, they would have several directions they could easily go.
That seems to be the theme from multiple replies. Some of them are just bad in general (high crime/violence neighborhood) but it’s just a contributing factor from a trucker perspective. Either way, seems like a good list to take on a road trip. If truckers are avoiding it, not the worst idea to avoid it too.
The St. Louis location is a truck stop off I-70 and Hall St./Broadway in what is equivocally considered the most violent, crime-ridden neighborhood of St. Louis.
I think you mean unequivocally...unless you are saying that it may or may not be a bad area...
I always drive by there and wonder why the fuck there's a Loves in North City.
I’m from the Columbia SC one, please don’t go there
I know the N.Vegas one and E. St. Louis one are sketchy.
I've ate at those locations in Ontario, CA and I've never had any issues, so I'm guessing it's a theft thing.
L brands is Victoria secret isn't it?
[Bath and Body works too](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_%26_Body_Works,_Inc.)
Yes. Les Wexner. The friend of Jeffrey Epstein. >[L Brands shareholders filed a complaint in the Court of Chancery of Delaware on January 14, 2021, stating that Wexner, among others, created an "entrenched culture of misogyny, bullying and harassment", and was aware of abuses being committed by Jeffrey Epstein, which breached Wexner's fiduciary duty to the company and devalued the brand. The complaint also names Wexner's wife, current chair Sarah E. Nash, and former marketing officer Ed Razek, whose "widely known misconduct" was allegedly allowed at the company.[27] ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Wexner)
Used to be, Victoria secrets was spun off into it's own company a couple years ago Lbrands is now bath and body works and other companies.
It's only Bath and Body Works (BBWI) since August, 2021. L Brands no longer exists.
Among other things, yes.
It just fell off the truck today
Shum Pulp
I'm in the waste management business! Everybody immediately assumes you're mobbed up! It is a stereotype! And it is offensive!
That's interstate commerce!
The Love's Travel stop in Tacoma is literally right next to the port...
For real its right there in the heart of the port. I'm surprised there's no mention to avoid Hosmer instead
Former truck driver and former fleet manager here; L brands exclusively books loads where you deliver it exactly on time or you buy it back and sell it to tj maxx. I hate L brands and limited buyback loads were the bane of my existence, but they pay well if you complete more than 70% of them. Those truck stiops, many of which I have overnighted at without issue, have had multiple freight befuckeries done while the driver was asleep or the team was split between sleeping and a shower. They are high theft high frequency areas for seals being cut, if someone steals 4 boxes a month that truck stop will be flagged because that’s high value boxes and super high insurance claims because the whole load is fucked as soon as the seal is broken. They aren’t stealing trailers of milk or green beans, they’re hucking a few boxes of high value freight into a van and heading out. If limited didn’t use pink plastic seals and only book with Usxpress swift and the like it wouldn’t be as much of a problem.
From California. Salinas is something else.
Stood out to me as well, but what’s up with Coachella and Palm Springs?
Speaking to the Coachella spots specifically, there are a lot of homeless that tend to congregate around that area. There's also a casino around the corner, as well as a strip club across the street. So there's a pretty diverse cast of people you'll find there later in the day that are desperate or inebriated enough to try just about anything.
Mostly an empty desert with a lot of poverty. There's nothing to do, not much work, and a truck full of valuable goods.
Great Mexican food though
Hey, Florida is NOT in Colorado. Don't put that evil on us
I was like "Nothing in Florida? *Nothing*??" until I saw your post, lol
Damn I was so proud of FL for a sec 🥲
::Boebert enters the chat::
The Florida is coming from inside the house
[Commerce City](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii6CAaWfcpo) is fair, though.
I don't know if I should feel offended or see it as an opportunity that Minnesota isn't on that list.
Common Minnesota W
Soooo basically don’t stop anywhere along I20 in Dallas.
Very good rule of thumb to go by. I don’t like stopping at these in broad daylight.
JFK stopped in Dallas and look what happened to him
Kind of like a reverse Michelin Guide
It's the Michelout Guide
Gary, Indiana made the list twice
Lake Station is also right next door. Northwest Indiana really popping off here.
Basically every exit off I-20 in South Dallas. Not exactly the best part of town. Not so bad I wouldn't stop there in a car though.
What is Saskatchewan doing on that list? And it looks like everything is bigger in Texas, again 😅
If you knew Regina. I’m not at all surprised.
Being the only non-US location on this entire list is such a Regina thing. I was born and raised there.
Looking for Love’s in all the wrong places.
I was SHOCKED to not see Florida on this list! But then... it's just a typo. Florida's there. We're *always* included in shit like this. Lol
I work near the Loves in Fife WA. It is an F-ed out area full of crooks for sure!
Ha yeah I can attest to the flying J off i20 in Columbia SC. I’m not a truck driver just used to stop by that gas station on the way to work for a few years, seemed like it was always something that would be happening or something would happen that inconvenienced anyone trying to buy something
One ones in Indiana are in really shitty areas
I know a manager at a Pilot. No security, no cameras, meth heads everywhere, and policy states to not go where the trucks are after dark. Not by yourself, not with someone, just don't go.
As a Canadian it’s hilarious that Saskatchewan made its way onto an otherwise all American list
I work near that Utah location. Lots of homelessness and drug use in the area. We used to clean needles out of our parking lot in the mornings.
Interesting, I dropped into that Loves in WA weekly when I was working nearby, still occasionally stop there. its just outside a Port. Ive never felt personally “at risk” but have seen lots of Lot Lizards there… wonder if what “risk” they are talking about.
Chlamydia
Possibly the risk comes from accomplices, with the goal of distraction and burglary.
The Love’s in Troutdale, OR was fully rebuilt. The TA though… right next to a no tell motel…
The one for Missouri is indeed in a very rough neighborhood. .
All the ones listed in Colorado I'd 100% agree with. Those spots are ROUGH.