Diesel theft : Ideas Please

MCTM

MCTM

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Got to yard this morning to find 3 of the 5 lorries had been tampered with and all diesel siphoned off - a real pain as a) I was off to a hunter trials and b) I had filled up last weekend so £75 of diesel gone .....

I have a locking fuel cap, which they must have picked, one other lorry had their filler cap smashed completely.

So, any ideas how to stop this happening again? This is 2nd time in last 18 months. Last time my tank was almost empty so little loss but a pain to get jerry cans of diesel to get to garage.

Am worried that making it impossible for filler cap to be removed will just mean a sharp instrument through fuel tank (even more expensive to fix). Will try to get YO to put in CCTV but not sure a whether that willbe effective. Any other ideas gratefully received......
 
Thats terrible!
I guess you could alert the police but they probably wouldn't do much...CCTV sounds like a good idea, can't really think of anything else other than secure parking and locked gates?
Hope you get it sorted :)
 
We had this done to us in the last couple of months - we never lock the cap as its a pain to undo, and the mechanic who came to replace the batteries they stole (:mad:) said if we did, they'd break it anyway so not to bother.

Our plan is to now never leave a significant amount in it ever, and the batteries are removed after each use and locked in our storage container, which can be broken into (from previous experience :( ) but requires much more work.

My only advice would be look out for when they steal your batteries :mad:
 
Thanks for the comments - gates to parking are locked but anybody can climb over :( . Police have been informed but in reality there isn't much they can do.

Stencil face, yes I agree that the best option is to limit amount of diesel left in tank. A pain to have to fill-up so often but at least limits the loss. Maybe if we all do that the ******* will get bored of only getting a few gallons.

Have given OH homework to find suitable CCTV system (they can't resist a gadget, can they)!
 
One of my old engineer college friends used to work for a company that used to make anti-syphonage pumps for big artics, i could ask him if they fit smaller types. Xx
 
Re-arrange your parking so that you park in pairs with the filler caps facing. Park as close as you possibly can to your pair, such that no-one not even a child can get down the side, let alone prise off your locked filler cap. With practise you should be able to park less than your mirrors width apart, just stop before you hit the other lorry's mirror/hit your mirror on the other lorry - you'll probably need someone to help you park!
 
Why not just put a couple of these up: http://www.c-p-p.co.uk/product/asp/ProdID/2269/CtgID/1031/af/page.htm

NO ONE is going to hang around with the alarm going off. just put the unit up high out of reach. The thieving scrotes will soon leg it to their next target.

Lots of people say a burglar alarm is a waste of time. but if you were a thief and you were faced with two identical houses, one with a burglar and one without; which one would you go for?
 
Locked gates. Dogs. Alarm. Batteries out of lorries and piddling amount of fuel left in. Parked as Dubsie suggests.

It's all a pain in the butt, but as fuel prices rise then so will the thefts :(
 
What a pain in the backside! As Stencilface said, this happened to us a few months back - they also stole the battery from the horsebox though as well as the 4x4 we have down there. So infuriating, and now we have to remove the battery after use which is an added pain but if these thieving scum are going to steal anything they can get then what choice do us law-abiding, tax-paying citizens have!!!!
 
Thank you to everybody for the suggestions. Not sure if I trust some of my fellow horsebox owners driving ability to get close enough and not take off my wing mirrors/front wing but it's certainly a good idea.

FulshawGirl, if you can find out anything that would be brilliant. I'll google it too.

The police made me laugh this morning - their suggestions were along the lines of guns, mantraps and major electric shocks!! All off record of course :)
 
This is such a pain, i had it happen to me last year, 3 times in five weeks.

I would park as close as possible to stable wall to leave a tiny gap that side then climb across & get out of passenger door.

It really got me down, on one occasion i had a trip to the vet booked & only discovered that it was completely drained once we were loaded up & ready to go. Thankfully vets were very understanding & re-booked us for a later time but i was distraught at what would have happened if it had been an emergency.

Ended up selling the lorry & getting a trailer :-)
 
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