i must admit that i personally have had no problems in over 40 years on the road…but the last couple of years i have read and heard of many horror stories…i wonder where these guys are getting the gas from…if its happening here in the u.k then there must be a supplier here…it was evident in the eastern bloc.so i suspect that a lot of the gassers are in fact eastern block migrants…namely gypsies…because in my experience they are the only ones who would have the nerve…
you can of course buy a gas alarm which emits a very loud siren outside of the cab if a gas is detected…enough to make them run away and for the driver to then open the window for air…these gadgets are available through magazines mainly of the motorhome camper van type…and costs are around the £100 mark…a good investment i would think…for the boss…
drive safely
have a nice day
a poster went up at my last company saying its “easystart” there using. apparently it contains ether? i`ve also had more trouble in the uk than abroad… i once parked on washington services with a tilt on, full load of caterpillar tracks on so i opened the back and thought"no problems now". got up monday morning-the little ===== had still slashed the sides!
JONBOY@RH:
a poster went up at my last company saying its “easystart” there using. apparently it contains ether?
I’ve also heard the same thing,and that’s one almighty big bang to consider too! It only takes a spark from the interior light when they get the door open.
I’ve seen the gas alarms on sale in several German autohofs,around €160
I hear from a friend that truck hi-jacking in europe is set to increase over the next few months because of x-mas. as a reg into europe i am a bit worried about this. What ways have i got to stay safe? should i not stop anywhere in perticular? should i carry protection (baseball bat)? any ideas?
*Note i travel all over europe so any hint etc will be very helpfull. Thanks
A lot of it is common sense, same as in this country. Things can happen anywhere so it is difficult to say where to avoid. Belgium can be bad and since about February Luxembourg has had its share. Italy and France have also had lots of incidents reported recently. In Germany there have been reports of an increase in use of gas during thefts especially in Bayern & Nord-Rhein-Westfalen. There has also been a big increase in recent months of incidents in Poland, with impersonation of police officers playing a big part. Now you can’t avoid all these places and still do the job so it comes down to choosing where you park with care.
Often parking outside the delivery point isn’t a good idea as it can advertise what you are carrying and make you a target. There are products available that can be used to make life more difficult to people trying to get access to the cab and there are also alarms available that can be used to detect the most popular gases used in these attacks.
thanks for the quick reply… I will keep my eye open for these products. end of the day though, if they want the truck/load they can have it. I am not loosing my life over it… even my boss dave says hand the keys over. Thanks
Try to avoid parking in the European equivalents of River Rd, or Liverpool docks or similar scuzzy places.
If I have to overnight in Belgium, I always go past the services, turn around, and park on the opposite side so it appears that I am export.
It might take ten minutes but its worth it for a peaceful nights sleep.
Personally, I do not consider mainland Europe to be any more dangerous than the UK.
Vince
I agree Vince and I also do the ‘I’m going the other way’ thing. Better a few minutes than a load of grief.
hehe try and fool them. i just parked in services on my trip… didnt have any problems.
Only once have I had any problem in Europe … 2 trips ago I woke up one morning to find the 2 trucks either side of me had had their curtains cut and my back door had had the seal broken and they had obviously looked inside … only to find 20 tonnes of frozen pieces of chicken!! They had broken open a box and then left it. By the way, this was at the services before Potiers on the southbound side, can’t think what they are called now.
Most times though, I take all the usual precautions… cab locked at all times (including when driving), and only parking where I see LOCAL trucks parked … ie if in spain and there are Spanish trucks parked there, then they must know where is safe etc
It’s true that mainland europe is no different to the UK.
Two Sunday’s running I have had my curtains slashed in the UK,both were on Sunday night/Monday morning.The first time on Newport Pagnell services and the following Sunday I was parked on Keele services.
I even left the back door open at Keele so they could see there was nothing worth stealing,and still they cut a hole!
Personally,the only problem I have ever had in europe was at a services nr. Lille just before one Christmas.They cut the padlock off and nicked a few fresh turkey’s.But that was more than 10 years ago.
Keith
A Very Effective deterrent are PROTEKDOR door handle cover locks
once fitted NO ONE can open the doors!
I use them all the time when parking in a “suspect” area
Rgds Mike
The only thing that would worry me about those though, Mike, is that if they really want the load, they will break into cab while you’re asleep and attempt to beat the beejaysus out of you for the keys. If they want to nick the load while I am asleep, thats fine by me cos they won’t wake me once my head hits that pillow lol
after recently being gassed and robbed in luxembourg i now have a full set of protekdor locks and have to admit that i never leave my truck without first putting them on and the kabguards go on at night too.
i have had my first decent weeks sleep since being robbed and i can now go and eat a meal in the services or truckstop without worrying if my truck and my personal belongings are still going to be there when i get back.
whenever i used to read about drivers being gassed and robbed i used to think it would never happen to me because i always park safety concious, i choose my parking places where i know or think i will be safe but i now believe that there are no safe places to park and a lot of the time it isn’t your load or your truck they want, it’s your money, your mobile phone, credit cards, fuel cards and wahtever else they can get in their pockets, they aren’t driving round in scruffy transits and 7.5 tonners looking for market trade goods, they are driving small saloon cars looking for sleeping drivers who may not know what to do if they caught someone stealing from them and it’s here now in this country, be advised that gassing and robbing of drivers is an increasing problem in this country now, northampton police are warning drivers to be careful where they park up for the night after a number of gassing incidents, the criminals have found out that drivers need to have a reasonable amount of money on them every week to pay the extortionate parking charges for service areas and truckstops, they have mobile phones and credit cards and most trucks lack proper security and are easier to access than houses.
truck burglary will be the new crime for 2004, it will overtake mugging and until transport companies do something to protect their workforce or to force truck makers to fit security locks and alarms to trucks as standard we will have to fend for ourselves.