Road Warrior Reality – Part 1
A few weeks ago I was getting a part for my ailing Land Cruiser (FJ-60) at the local auto parts store. Since I live in a semi-rural area, it’s always a crap shoot on whether or not they’ll have the right part, and if they do – it’s often offered at mining camp “company store” prices.
There was a woman in line ahead of me who was buying a locking gas cap for her car. She decried the higher cost of gas prices and mentioned that it would be to help prevent folks from stealing the gas out of her car.
I smiled to myself and thought this is how it begins. With a whisper – and some soccer mom buying a gas cap lock at the auto parts store.
Then gas is $5 and everyone flips out. I mean, hell, that’s real money, right? A few years go by and we’ll be talking about the “good old days” when gas was only $4.75.
Get up to $10 a gallon and stealing gas is not just an inconvenience, it becomes a daily part of life. Either that, or we shut down.
Here is just one example of what will be the new normal. My emphasis below:
Fuel Thieves Targeting Truckers
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Thieves with some type of pumping mechanism are targeting truckers, stealing hundreds of dollars worth of fuel.
“There is so much of it being taken, to the tune of hundreds of gallons, that it has to be through some type of pumping mechanism,” Daytona Beach Sgt. Bill Rhodes said. “This seems to me to be well organized.”
Detectives said the thieves are targeting truck stops near Interstate 95 in Florida.
“You have to watch where you park your truck or leave it,” trucker Rick Morgan said. “If somebody is watching you at a truck stop, when you go inside and shower or eat, they are stealing fuel right out of your truck.”
It can cost more than $750 to fill up many 240-gallon tanks on big rigs, Local 6 reported..
Morgan said truckers are also robbing each other because the price of gas is so high.
“It has gotten real bad,” Morgan said. “Some of our owner operators at our company have fueled up and awaken in the morning to find their tanks empty.”
Many truckers said they are trying new gas locks, Local 6’s Tarik Minor reported.
Well, folks that’s it.
The moment we’ve all been waiting for.
Pull out your football pads and strap on the wrist crossbow.