Unlike OPEC, These Fuel Thieves Operate Domestically

Implications:  Diesel fuel theft is a growth industry these days. As truckers spend as much as $1,200 to fill their twin 150-gallon fuel tanks, thieves are often waiting in the wings.   The heists come in many forms, but siphoning out 300 gallons of fuel is not usually the way. Sometimes the truck is hijacked. Sometimes fuel trucks are hijacked. Sometimes construction and agricultural sites are raided at night.

Analysis:    As if truckers didn't have enough to work about, now theft of diesel fuel is the talk of some truck stops.
  With diesel approaching $4.50 a gallon nationally, theft of the product is also on the rise. With truckers already spending upwards of $1,200 to fill an 18-wheeler, it's another headache the badly beaten down industry hardly needs.
  The solution? Locking fuel tanks is an old-fashioned idea. It works -- as long as the truck itself is not hijacked, which is happening with more regularly.
  A British company, TruckProtect, is out on the market with a new anti-siphoning device. That might help.
  Still, there is simply a rising risk in driving a fuel tank truck these days. Thefts of these vehicles is on the rise, from either construction or agricultural sites, or even from refineries or middlemen distributors.
  The trucking industry is expected to spend more than $135 billion in fuel this year, up from just over $100 billion last year. It's estimated that diesel fuel theft will make up about $8 billion of that tab.
  It's sad, it's a sign of the times, it's another indicator that the trucking industry has more and rising challenges every single day. What's next?