Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 8:41 pm Post subject: Re: Gasoline thefts thread
I have to admit that this thing of thieves stealing my gas was not showing up on my radar. But, now, since I store a fair amount on the place I must make "other arrangements". Apparently gasoline thefts are on the rise. _________________ "I've been dazed and confused for so long it's not true."
Led Zeppelin
Police disclosed on Friday that approximately $3,000 in diesel fuel was reportedly siphoned from the tanks of three Freightliner trucks earlier in the week.
_________________ Joe P. United Political Debate
"Only when the last tree is cut; only when the last river is polluted; only when the last fish is caught; only then will they realize that you cannot eat money." - Cree Indian Proverb
Joined: Apr 05, 2005 Posts: 1627 Location: Springsteen Country (NJ)
Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 10:17 pm Post subject: Re: Gasoline thefts thread
ColossalContrarian wrote:
Don't see any reason why not, how do you change a thread title?
Just edit your first post and change the title. It will automagically change the title when you submit. Happens all the time on the "Another New Record" thread. _________________ Joe P. United Political Debate
"Only when the last tree is cut; only when the last river is polluted; only when the last fish is caught; only then will they realize that you cannot eat money." - Cree Indian Proverb
Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 10:24 pm Post subject: Re: Gasoline and Diesel Thefts Thread
As gas prices soar, thieves grow more brazen
Quote:
Bobby Lee Julien, who’s driven a fuel tanker for 27 years, was near the end of his route. It was 3 a.m. when he pulled up at a stop sign off State Highway 225 in Houston.
It took only a few seconds for the masked man to rip open the passenger door, jump in and point a gun at Julien, 52.
“I begged him not to shoot me,” Julien said. “I feared for my life. The whole time he had a gun pointed at me.”
It wasn’t Julien’s life the gunman wanted that morning of May 5: “He said he wanted the truck. He wanted the fuel.”
The truck was recovered three days later. Police said its fuel load would probably be sold on the black market, which is thriving as average pump prices approach $4 a gallon.
With siphons, pumps, saws — and sometimes lethal weapons — gasoline thieves are on the hunt.
Police said the man had access to his employer's gas card and personal identification number to fill up the tanks of company vehicles.
The man allegedly used that information to fill up his own personal vehicle on numerous occasions with an estimated $8,000 worth of gasoline, police said.
I can’t imagine what’s going to happen in coming winters.
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 8:26 pm Post subject: Re: Gasoline and Diesel Thefts Thread
Fuel oil is pushing $5 a gallon. Some home heating tanks hold 550 gallons. That's $3,000 worth of fuel, and many of these tanks are stored outside. I live in an older house and our tank is in the basement and it's nearly impossible to siphon, due to a long and winding fill pipe, but I wonder what'll happen to folks with outside tanks?
Joined: Aug 14, 2004 Posts: 2066 Location: San Diego, Ca.
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 10:36 pm Post subject: Re: Gasoline and Diesel Thefts Thread
We just had an armed robbery in my area. Mexican vs. Mexican. The suspect took the migrants' wallets...
and a gas can with a gallon of gas. _________________ "Peak oil isn't more than an interesting industry factoid and doesn't have anything to do with the hysterics speculated on ad nauseum around here!" ReserveGrowthRulz
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 11:08 pm Post subject: Re: Gasoline and Diesel Thefts Thread
hope_full wrote:
Fuel oil is pushing $5 a gallon. Some home heating tanks hold 550 gallons. That's $3,000 worth of fuel, and many of these tanks are stored outside. I live in an older house and our tank is in the basement and it's nearly impossible to siphon, due to a long and winding fill pipe, but I wonder what'll happen to folks with outside tanks?
Surprisingly, we haven't had many customers that have had theft issues with outdoor heating oil/kerosene tanks and/or propane tanks.
Some of our customers with outdoor tanks have been asking about locking fuel caps to help protect their expensive investment.
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:51 am Post subject: Re: Gasoline and Diesel Thefts Thread
MarkJ wrote:
Surprisingly, we haven't had many customers that have had theft issues with outdoor heating oil/kerosene tanks and/or propane tanks.
Yet...
I seem to recall reading something a few winters back, when the pricing run-up was just getting started, about some delivery drivers ripping customers off, charging them for whatever they ordered while actually pumping only a small amount into their tanks.
You can bet your butt that there's going to be a lot more theft of all liquid fuels as the price continues to mount, not only for black market resale but for personal use as well by people who simply can no longer afford to purchase it themselves... _________________ "It means buckle your seatbelt, Dorothy, because Kansas? Is goin' bye-bye... "
Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:52 am Post subject: Re: Gasoline and Diesel Thefts Thread
A little bored this morning,found this article from September 2005 regarding diesel theft rise in CA. What I found interesting in particular was this quote.
Quote:
"I looked at the last two years, in terms of the impact of higher diesel for growers, and the costs per acre for diesel for growing processing tomatoes in the 2003 crop was roughly $72 an acre. That has increased to just over $200 an acre in a matter of two years, so the net impact is a little over $3 a ton," Siragusa said. "So the grower has gone backwards by the tune of $3 and this is using an off-road diesel price of $2.40. In terms of profitability for the growers this year with grower yields and all of these higher costs, they will definitely be in the hole."
And this was when diesel was $3 a gallon… it’s a little off topic but it shows just how dire the situation is becoming because the farmers also had to deal with theft, which they're still dealing with.
Quote:
If the high cost of diesel wasn't enough, farmers have become the targets of thieves sneaking onto their farms to steal as much fuel as they can get their hands on.
Denair dairyman Don Morelli is one of the many diesel-theft victims. Suspects disregarded the "no trespassing" signs posted around his dairy and used hoses found at the dairy to siphon both diesel and gasoline from several farm vehicles.
"We are simply victims. This is the third or fourth robbery we've had, and we don't feel safe and secure any more on the farm and at our house," Morelli said. "These are professional people doing this out here."
One of Morelli's workers who showed up for an early morning shift at the dairy discovered that the keys were not in the Caterpillar skip loader he was about to use. The employees were unable to feed the cows right away since they did not have the keys to the equipment. Once he and his workers looked at other pieces of equipment, they realized that other keys were missing as well. After putting two and two together, it became clear to Morelli and his workers that the keys were used to remove locking caps and doors to fuel tanks on the equipment.
"There were pieces of rubber hose lying around these vehicles which they used to siphon the fuel out of the various tanks. We figure that overall, they took at least 150 gallons of fuel that were siphoned out of about three or four pieces of equipment," Morelli said.
The loss of fuel is estimated to be at least $375, but Morelli said the loss goes beyond just the cost of the fuel. He said he and his workers lost quite a bit of time looking for the missing keys, and another factor was the stress felt not only by him and the workers, but the cows as well.
Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:21 am Post subject: Re: Gasoline and Diesel Thefts Thread
TWilliam wrote:
MarkJ wrote:
Surprisingly, we haven't had many customers that have had theft issues with outdoor heating oil/kerosene tanks and/or propane tanks.
Yet...
I seem to recall reading something a few winters back, when the pricing run-up was just getting started, about some delivery drivers ripping customers off, charging them for whatever they ordered while actually pumping only a small amount into their tanks.
One of the smaller local COD heating oil dealers was convicted of shorting customers a couple years ago, but overall you rarely hear about this happening. As prices have gone up more customers use a tank chart and stick test their oil level. Many fuel gauges aren't accurate, so people that keep their tank levels low have always measured fuel this way.
The bigger issue is companies with massive amounts of Pre-Pay customers and Pre-Paid Service Contract customers going belly up.
The first part of the Die-off will be very entertaining, the part where the stupid people kill themselves off… Here’s a piece from May 2nd, for your reading enjoyment.
Quote:
GRAND JUNCTION - The sheriff's office says two men trying to steal gas from a boat instead started a fire.
The Mesa County Sheriff's Office says Cody Sellards and Timothy Long tried to steal gas from Hank Ibarra's boat early Friday morning.
"They were looking inside the gas can to see how much room, or how full the gas can was of gas," said Heather Benjamin, spokesperson for the Mesa County Sheriff's Office. "They looked into it with a cigarette lighter and the fumes caught on fire."
"It was pretty exciting," Ibarra said. "About 3:15, the neighbors called, my wife answered the phone … Of course I got woke up and she said, 'The boat's on fire.'"
Actually, the boat wasn't on fire; the flames were coming from the gas can in front of it.
When Ibarra told authorities the burnt jacket found near the scene wasn't his, deputies called St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction and asked if anyone had come in with burns. That's how they found Sellards. Long's injuries were not immediately known.
Sellards and Long face fourth-degree arson, theft and trespassing charges.
As for Ibarra, he says he'll be keeping his gas tanks inside from now on, and he hopes Sellards and Long learned a lesson.
"If you haven't got better sense than to check gas with a lighter or match to see the level of what's in it, or how much is in the can, I guess you deserve what you get," Ibarra said.
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