Is this an upcoming, rather crunchy epoisode of a travel-relatedd reality show? You know, the kind of program that my mother nmight consider sharing if the people on it just didn’t swear too much? Nope. The original driver of hte 18-wheeler was the victim of experienced cargo thieves, who steal trucks and drive off in the night, able to drive off with just about anything and resell it.
Dallas-Fort Worth is a hot area for cargo thefts right now: that’s when a shoplifter simply drives away with the item in turn instead of driving well above the speeed limit, as the dogs in the original story did.
Vegetables–cabbage and lettuce, in this case–can be resold, at least, and other items from trucks stolen in the area have also turned up for sale online. The problem is that thieves may not be as conscientious as experienced drivers at making sure that the temperatures in their trucks are going to stay.
How can you protect yourself, other than not leaving any 18-wheelers you own running with the keys in the ignition, and not buying vegetables from some guy or gal’s truck unless they’re an established farmer’s market vendor who you know.
I-Team Sources: 18-Wheeler Pursuit Is Part Of A Bigger Crime [CBS DFW]
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist