Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

If you saw this headline, where would you assume the article originated?

Bandits an ‘epidemic’ for truckers
“It’s become quite a problem. The biggest problem is when drivers are running up and down the road they’re talking on the CB, saying what they’re hauling. “They’re talking when they shouldn’t be talking.”

This is taught during the first day of trucking school. It’s tough when someone sounds friendly and it’s only a part of a bigger conversation to come up with something that sounds innocent or maybe they’re trying to impress everyone with how important they are. If someone is asking too many specific questions, like who the customer is, what warehouse, things like that, drivers should know better.

But the violence has escalated recently as bandits target drivers in Southern Ontario; and the stakes are high, with some trucks hauling $10 million in cargo.

Except for the “violence” part, it’s just freight and they can have it. But drivers are getting hurt for no reason over freight.

Recent hijackings have been getting more violent, he said. On Aug. 8, someone abducted a driver and stole his trailer, with $2 million worth of cargo, from a Tilbury service centre. The driver was later released.

Last year, the body of Ontario trucker Donald Woods was discovered after the $40,000 worth of chicken he was hauling disappeared. “The thefts happen all the time,” said McDougall, a private investigator for 20 years. “But we have seen in recent months an escalation in the violence part of it.”

Sometimes there’s nothing a driver can do about it -

There is often someone on the inside involved in the heist, said Doug Switzer, manager of government relations for the Ontario Trucking Association. “It’s unfortunate, but true,” he said. “A lot of time there is an inside man, or woman. Quite often they do know what they’re looking for. Somebody told them to look for this truck carrying this load.”

If you were reading closely you noticed, “Southern Ontario” (Canada) for the location of all these hijackings. It’s not Mexico or some remote outskirts in Canada or the ghettos of the US.

If someone asks, say something like it’s company policy not to say or come up with something ahead of time so there’s no delay in your answer. Something so worthless no one would want it and you don’t know exactly where it’s going yet.

Be careful out there!