Anyone else having this problem??
We have had over £12k fuel taken this month…
They just brake in and either drill holes in the tanks of overide the sensory.
We have had to spend a fortune in cctv to hopefully correct the problems.
Just wondered if anyone else had views about this.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bradford/7490880.stm
a little bit about at the link above.
Yeah its getting to be a nasty problem but I really don’t see a viable solution. Filters in the pipers and locks on the caps are no good because they will just drill in the side.
Re-enforcing the sides are no good because they’ll just go underneath and snip the fuel line or disconnect it.
Protecting the fuel line is no good as they’ll break into the bonnet and go at it from there…
The only REAL solution is to park with empty tanks so there’s nowt for them to get, and perhaps stick a sticker on the side saying “no fuel left in tanks overnight”
but that means only filling enough for one day at a time and thats not viable.
I always try and park with the minimum in, but what if I’m out for a week and am only one day into it? chances are my tanks will be pretty full.
Always been a problem, always will be IMHO!
Alex
One of my first bosses on tramping told me to “never lock the fuel caps, those [zb] will steal the diesel any way they can, and a tank full of diesel costs less than a new alloy tank as well.”
What would you do to protect yourself? Horse stealing, Diesel theft, seems similar.
Most, if not all, fuel tanks are rubber-mounted, with plastic fuel lines.
Therefore, maybe an electric-fence energiser could be attached to the
(metal) tank? That would put around 25,000 volts thru the blighters, but
almost zero amps. Surprise-surprise… 
There is a couple of ways round this problem. Not completely fool proof and it’s not cheap.
Split the tanks so there is only a small amount that can be syphoned off from the conventional filler cap. The new filler caps are then hidden under the chequer plate.
Other than that break all the tacho rules and keep the wheels moving. 
allikat:
One of my first bosses on tramping told me to “never lock the fuel caps, those [zb] will steal the diesel any way they can, and a tank full of diesel costs less than a new alloy tank as well.”
That’s my view. A hammer & a big screw driver will overcome a locked tank cap in 10 secs & you just end up with stolen diesel & a buggered up tank.
Diesel theft has always been a problem with trucks. It needs the manufacturers to redesign the tanks so they are not so easy to access.
the price of scrap at the moment,theyll be takin the tank and the diesel soon! 
an old company i worked for had this problem,
the on site security wouldn’t dare to confront them, and the police couldn’t careless.
tried parking the wagons with the tanks inches next to one another , but that meant that mirrors got broken,
had some anti sphion (- dont know how to spell it), but saw on cctv the gipos got a car jack with a big spike and jacked it up underneath the fuel tank. - after that happened a few time the company decided to leave plenty of room between the wagons, and left the fuel caps unlocked. their theory, whats better - have the tank destroyed and loose a tank of fuel or just loose a tank of fuel ?
Weve got a merc 7.5 tonner that is used for a contract in london and that has a 5 mm thick steel sheet casing all around the tank and has the anti syphon gadget in it
the boss did that after the chap had the diesel stolen after they drilled a hole in it while he was in a place getting his notes signed
And your not even safe on the boat anymore. Had diesel nicked on p and o the other day and the guy on board said it was becoming a regular occurance
I put a post about this a couple of weeks back, I tend to agree with some of the others, when a truck arrives back in at night I make sure the caps are left off and any fuel left in is sucked out and put in the workshop. I know its a ■■■ but better then having it nicked.
A company called up and suggested a fuel chipping device. Something you fit in the fuel tanks and it makes it traceable if somebody was found with diesel sort of like a chip. I think its more of a prosecution for the police.
I’ve been pondering a solution to this for some time. Well, not exactly a ‘solution’ because you can never prevent fuel theft.
However, if you can make the event ‘riskier’ for the offender, then the frequency of the event may diminish.
What prompted my interest was when someone mentioned that it is now possible to get a semiconductor that will both store a value, and compare that value against an input, either as a voltage, or as a resistance.
For those that I have lost already. Let me explain.
A ‘semiconductor’ is simply part of an electrical circuit. In this case an ‘integrated circuit’ or, what is commonly referred to as a ‘chip’. They come in various configurations for various applications.
In any vehicle fuel tank is a variable resistor. Which comprises a float, attached to an arm, which essentially moves a contact along a coil of wire as the float rises or falls. This action varies the output voltage of ‘sender’ unit which then drives the fuel gauge which, in itself, is a variable resistor. I know it seems strange that an electrical current is being controlled within a fuel tank, particularly if it was a petrol tank, but the technology is well established and is decades old.
Therefore in any fuel tank is an electronic device capable of providing an ‘output’. The application of such a Comparator semiconductor would be to ‘sample’ the input when the system is ‘armed’, and then compare the value throughout the period until it is disarmed. If the value changed by, for example more than 5%, allowing for vehicle movement due to weather or passing traffic, then the system would trigger an ‘output’.
What one then did with that ‘output’ would be a decision for the operator. It could trigger an auto dialler to a phone. In a ‘yard’ situation, it could dial a number that caused floodlighting and cameras to be activated. The signal could be used to activate the vehicle’s lights and horns.
The outcome is not problematic. It is the generation of that signal where the problem lies, particularly as manufacturers are not normally comfortable with significant wiring alterations.
It wouldn’t prevent fuel theft. But it would make it a far less palatable venture.
And if anybody brings it to market.
It was my idea. I thought of it first. 
Krankee:
I’ve been pondering a solution to this for some time. Well, not exactly a ‘solution’ because you can never prevent fuel theft.However, if you can make the event ‘riskier’ for the offender, then the frequency of the event may diminish.
What prompted my interest was when someone mentioned that it is now possible to get a semiconductor that will both store a value, and compare that value against an input, either as a voltage, or as a resistance.
For those that I have lost already. Let me explain.
A ‘semiconductor’ is simply part of an electrical circuit. In this case an ‘integrated circuit’ or, what is commonly referred to as a ‘chip’. They come in various configurations for various applications.
In any vehicle fuel tank is a variable resistor. Which comprises a float, attached to an arm, which essentially moves a contact along a coil of wire as the float rises or falls. This action varies the output voltage of ‘sender’ unit which then drives the fuel gauge which, in itself, is a variable resistor. I know it seems strange that an electrical current is being controlled within a fuel tank, particularly if it was a petrol tank, but the technology is well established and is decades old.
Therefore in any fuel tank is an electronic device capable of providing an ‘output’. The application of such a Comparator semiconductor would be to ‘sample’ the input when the system is ‘armed’, and then compare the value throughout the period until it is disarmed. If the value changed by, for example more than 5%, allowing for vehicle movement due to weather or passing traffic, then the system would trigger an ‘output’.
What one then did with that ‘output’ would be a decision for the operator. It could trigger an auto dialler to a phone. In a ‘yard’ situation, it could dial a number that caused floodlighting and cameras to be activated. The signal could be used to activate the vehicle’s lights and horns.
The outcome is not problematic. It is the generation of that signal where the problem lies, particularly as manufacturers are not normally comfortable with significant wiring alterations.
It wouldn’t prevent fuel theft. But it would make it a far less palatable venture.
And if anybody brings it to market.
It was my idea. I thought of it first.
^ ^ ^
And a bloody good one too!
Set it to give them a shock too.
Piranhas in the fuel tank■■?
Ive lost count how many times my tanks have been damaged and fuel caps smashed and its now running in the hundreds of litres ,ive parked under lights and other traffic about , they still struck ,they want it there getting it , you,ve gotta sleep sometime ,and the police couldnt give a ■■■■ , if you,ve got a truck your on your own ,none in power gives a ■■■■, ive been looking at a device from italy its like an alarm on your tank if the caps removed an alarm goes off like a car alarm , it does a few other things , sensors everywhere , but i think its exspensive and your tanks have to be removed so they can wire it up etc , i will try and find out more , unless someone already has it ,?
Krankee:
What prompted my interest was when someone mentioned that it is now possible to get a semiconductor that will both store a value, and compare that value against an input, either as a voltage, or as a resistance.For those that I have lost already. Let me explain.
Yes please, in English … and go slow. 
Krankee:
A ‘semiconductor’ is simply part of an electrical circuit. In this case an ‘integrated circuit’ or, what is commonly referred to as a ‘chip’. They come in various configurations for various applications.In any vehicle fuel tank is a variable resistor. Which comprises a float, attached to an arm, which essentially moves a contact along a coil of wire as the float rises or falls. This action varies the output voltage of ‘sender’ unit which then drives the fuel gauge which, in itself, is a variable resistor. I know it seems strange that an electrical current is being controlled within a fuel tank, particularly if it was a petrol tank, but the technology is well established and is decades old.
Therefore in any fuel tank is an electronic device capable of providing an ‘output’. The application of such a Comparator semiconductor would be to ‘sample’ the input when the system is ‘armed’, and then compare the value throughout the period until it is disarmed. If the value changed by, for example more than 5%, allowing for vehicle movement due to weather or passing traffic, then the system would trigger an ‘output’.
What one then did with that ‘output’ would be a decision for the operator. It could trigger an auto dialler to a phone. In a ‘yard’ situation, it could dial a number that caused floodlighting and cameras to be activated. The signal could be used to activate the vehicle’s lights and horns.
The outcome is not problematic. It is the generation of that signal where the problem lies, particularly as manufacturers are not normally comfortable with significant wiring alterations.
Erm, sorry you lost me, what’s a semi-conductor again?
Stan