May

As Diesel Prices Rise, Diesel Theft Does, Too

Posted by admin Published in Diesel

According the the U.S. Government’s Energy knowledge Administration, diesel fuel is running $4.15 a gallon nowadays. At that price, filling a semi truck’s two fuel tanks (usually 150 gallons apiece) can cost more than $1200. And considering that a typical big rig achieves only about 5 mpg and swills a gallon for every hour it spends idling, a fill-up becomes a meaningful investment for most truckers and trucking companies.

So it’s no surprise that diesel theft is on the rise. The most common type is truck-stop siphoning. Truckers estimate that in about thirty minutes, a thief can drain dry a rig’s tank — less duration than it takes to a driver have a meal and seize a shower. Tank cap locks are nothing new, though a U.K.-based company, TruckProtect, has introduced a intelligent anti-siphoning insert for the fuel-filler neck.

Bolder thieves are bellying right up to much larger

tanks during overnight raids of interpretation sites and agricultural facilities, often drawing off hundreds of gallons. Occasionally, big-rig tankers themselves — able to carry as much as 10,000 gallons of fuel — become targets. Earlier that week in Houston, Texas, a veteran driver was carjacked at gunpoint and his diesel tanker stolen. The truck was recovered nowadays, undamaged, but minus its liquid cargo.

As diesel prices continue to rise during the summer months, expect the rate of theft to do the same. Some analysts predict that the hauling industry could lose shut to $8 billion during 2008 (of more than $100 billion spent on fuel) thanks to diesel theft.

Photo courtesy of Sterling Trucks.

Original post by Matthew Phenix