djt1881:
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??
All I would say is look after number 1 first load second as that’s insured
djt1881:
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??
Wouldn’t trust your TM telling you places will allow you to sleep on site in my experience they want you out so you’re not their responsibility.
If you notice a theft in progress fire your engine up and drive off then call the police. If ones still in the trailer then good hopefully they’ll hurt themselves on the way out. Never confront them they’ll think nothing of pasting you to get away.
Shame the Highway robbers didn’t steal that minging old trailer and done your boss a favour .
Next time when robbed, if you see them at work, never get out of the cab to confront them.
You never know how many are lurking to lump you on the head, knife you, throw acid, or worst case scenario, have a gun .
Lock cab doors, ring the police .
You can drive away on a daily rest, do a printout of what happened.
Dvsa or a judge would not fine you for tachograph offences.
As above stay in the cab with the doors locked and let them crack on with it. There was a bloke got his head smashed in with a bit of scaffolding pole not so long ago when he got on to confront somebody poking around his trailer and he was empty anyway I think.
The load etc will be insured and not worth the hassle, more often than not they’ll go around in groups incase they strike it rich and have to unload the trailer sharpish.
Ultimately no where is 100% safe but there a good few blackspots that are best avoided that you’ll hear mentioned on here etc.
Number 1 don’t put yourself at risk. If you notice a theft in progress don’t turn on lights engine or anything. Emergency call to police and tell them robbery iin progress with criminals probably with a knife still there. Bet they’ll be there soon. Starting engine or blowing horn means they drive off with the goods and will do it again!
I dunno that particular layby but if another truck can stop alongside with their curtain open then a couple of guys can throw lads of goods across quite quickly relatively unseen.
As said a few pallets of ordinary goods is still worth a lot and is mre difficult to identify than high valuegear that may have serial numbers etc.
I have been lucky over the years as parked in many lay-bys & industrial est never had curtains slashed when I have done them
Although I have mainly done fridge work but doing something a bit different now where my boss does pay parking normally before & tell us where to park as high value load if anything does happen he is covered
As said your night out is to compensate you for not sleeping in your own bed
toby1234abc:
Shame the Highway robbers didn’t steal that minging old trailer and done your boss a favour.
Unfortunately this is actually one of the better trailers in the fleet I’ve used so far! The thing I’m worried about now is maybe the trailer along with the unit (06 Merc Actros) I’m currently using is going to make me an easier target for load theft!
So having given night trunking a go and hating it with a passion (see other thread), my previous firm have kindly taken me back on and I have agreed to do four nights tramping next week. As you can see the last night out I done didn’t go quite according to plan and to say I’m lacking a bit of confidence is an understatement! However I am wanting to give it another shot and hoping I won’t have to deal with this again.
The issue is the first day will involve the same run as last time, and without giving too much detail involved a delivery to Asda, Warrington in the afternoon and then reloading a few miles away in the evening. However due to what happened last time and the fact the company still won’t pay for parking:
Would anyone suggest trying to negotiate with the TM to allow me to park overnight empty and reload first thing in the morning instead (my understanding is the depot is 24hr run)? This would also allow me hell of a lot more time to find somewhere safer to park (if that’s possible).
I don’t want to sound demanding to them, but would just like to kind of get my confidence back up a bit again really!
I understand your apprehension totally mate, you don’t want to pee off the company, but all you can do is ask for alternatives to avoid the situation again and if they don’t go with that, then it’s on them, not you for doing your job badly. If they aren’t willing to pay for more adequate parking facilities that might avoid theft like this, stressing yourself over it isn’t worth it imo.
Put the ball firmly into their court: ask whether to load, before or after your nights rest. If they say load first, ask where they want you to park? Any theft damage is then down to them. As I advised before if they want you to park in an unsecured area like a layby, DO NOT act as a security guard. If you feel movement in the trailer maybe peek out the windows, but DO NOT get out of the cab. Phone cops from inside the cab. Let them catch the buggers red handed, dont make a lot of noise, dont give them the chance to either drive off or try to shut you up. The attitude shown to asking the management about how you should act, would determine for me whether Id stay there longer, or be looking for another job. If they say “load then night-out but we aren`t paying for parking” means getting off pretty sharpish.
