As you can probably tell, woke up this morning to a rather unexpected surprise! Parked up last night just off M6 junction 16 on the A500 in a well lit layby filled with other trucks, to then find this morning three giant slashes on the curtain and nine pallets of items stolen!! No idea how I didn’t hear anyone as I don’t think I got much sleep, but I’m guessing these people new what they were doing?!
So I’m just asking as a newbie does this happen quite often? And are truckstops a much safer option for the extra few £££ a night?
You clearly had something on worth stealing then…And if that was the case then yeah services or a truckstop would of been the place to go…Unless that is your boss is too tight to pay for it…Like some are.Then if that is the case…Tough on him…He might change his mind now…
My goodness i thought i was a heavy sleeper and did not hear much.Just chalk it up as a lesson if you have anything on with any value always try get to a truckstop.Try and avoid msa’s as there just a rip off also ask other drivers about better parking spots that are away from laybys.
The ironic thing was that I actually stopped at two other lay-bys nearby but didn’t feel they were safe enough!! But then I guess no layby can be considered safe.
Only concern is my company likes me to finish quite late and the one truck stop I have stayed at (Lincoln Farm, outside Birmingham) filled up by about 6ish!
djt1881:
I do get £20 night allowance, Is that reasonable?
The ironic thing was that I actually stopped at two other lay-bys nearby but didn’t feel they were safe enough!! But then I guess no layby can be considered safe.
Only concern is my company likes me to finish quite late and the one truck stop I have stayed at (Lincoln Farm, outside Birmingham) filled up by about 6ish!
The night out money is not for parking it’s for food etc
Serves them right for running you late !
We’re all the pallets from same place ?
So I should be provided money for parking + night out allowance?
All the pallets were collected from same depot near Manchester but I still had eight pallets on board, so they possibly had enough or were maybe spotted.
Guessing most curtainsiders aren’t alarmed or protected at all?
djt1881:
So I should be provided money for parking + night out allowance?
All the pallets were collected from same depot near Manchester but I still had eight pallets on board, so they possibly had enough or were maybe spotted.
Guessing most curtainsiders aren’t alarmed or protected at all?
Yep on the money
And to just take your pallets seems like inside job as they’ve only cut the rear
djt1881:
Scary thought someone may have been following me then or knew where I was going! But as long I don’t get harmed couldn’t care what gets taken!!
This is bang on, you are far more important than anything on/in your truck.
To be fair if my employer didn’t pay parking I would open the curtains before I went to bed…
Apart from Thursday’s you can normally get on Lincoln farm at 7.30, some nights later.
If your company has a snap account some places can be pre-booked if your running late.
Companies not paying for parking must be few and far between, night out money as mentioned is separate and tax-free for you. Upkeep of bedding, food, strippers etc…
You may need to pay for the parking up front but your company should return the money in the next weeks pay packet. Thats how it works at our place, we pay for the parking upfront then we lob the receipt in our folders, note down the cost on our timesheets and then the company pay it back to us the following week.
As you can probably tell, woke up this morning to a rather unexpected surprise! Parked up last night just off M6 junction 16 on the A500 in a well lit layby filled with other trucks, to then find this morning three giant slashes on the curtain and nine pallets of items stolen!! No idea how I didn’t hear anyone as I don’t think I got much sleep, but I’m guessing these people new what they were doing?!
So I’m just asking as a newbie does this happen quite often? And are truckstops a much safer option for the extra few £££ a night?
Those laybys just off junction 16 are right on the road side I believe, if this is the case then its easy for the Robbers to use the rocking of the truck, and the noise created by passing traffic especially other trucks to shield there activties. At least you had your diesel left, that could have been an added insult to injury.
Remember the cargo doesn’t have to be high value to make it worth robbing, it just has to be easily converted (to cash), so any thing that car bootable though of a seemingly low value to you, is worth nicking because its easily converted
Over time you’ll build a personal knowledge bank of where is safe to park and where not, if your gaffers tight about parking, and you’d rather not have the agro off dealing with what you had to do today, then look at industrial estates rather than laybys.
Cant help a lot on subject of safe free parking these days, as I’ve been working for companies that don’t allow layby or industrial estate parking for the last decade, and those places that I used to park, well many have now got parking restrictions, mainly due to the mess left by overnighting drivers
andy_s:
I’d have thought that if a company pays for your parking, that’s tax deductible for them which means they aren’t really losing out on it?
Doesn’t matter if its tax deductible or not, you want secure parking then the firm has to pick up the tab. Our mob insist that you use secure parking. Truckstops and MSA’s, if a load gets nicked when you’ve parked in one of these places the insurance will always pay out no questions asked. Park in a layby and get done over then the company has to foot the bill. I’m not using my night out money to fund parking for the firms truck, the firms that don’t pay reap what they sow.
Thanks for all the advice guys, asked my TM about the incident today and he said sometimes load points will let you stay there if you have a late pick up time/running out of hours?
Also as I said before at the end of the day my priority is my personal safety and if people want to steal my load then so be it as long as I’m not endangered. But on that topic, if load theft can be a regular occurrence, is it best to stay quiet if I notice it happening in progress? Or if provoked are attacks on drivers fairly common??
Our place doesn’t pay parking as we pretty much have bulkers on most the time, but if you do get a tautliner job with a a valuable load they will…
Last lad to park at Ferrybridge got done over, went in for a shower came back both n/s and o/s windows smashed, phone, sat nav, ipad all gone… Don’t think your safe anywhere to be honest guys!!
