00:00This is why some long-haul truck drivers sleep at night with a rope tied to their fuel cap and
00:04the other end attached to their mouth.
00:06These strange-looking habits are actually theft prevention.
00:09If someone tampers with the fuel cap at night, the rope pulls immediately and wakes the sleeping driver.
00:14Heavy truck tanks hold 760 to 1140 liters of diesel.
00:19A full tank costs tens of thousands, equal to several days of long-haul earnings.
00:24Fuel thieves work fast.
00:25While drivers rest at service areas, they pry open the cap, insert a hose, and pump diesel into their own
00:31containers.
00:31Filling a truck takes 20 minutes, but thieves can steal valuable fuel within two hours.
00:36People ask, don't fuel caps have locks?
00:39Fuel locks get easily broken by force.
00:41Some thieves even drill through the tank or cut fuel lines.
00:44Desperate drivers use ropes, anti-theft locks, fuel filter screens, even guard dogs.
00:49Every method available.
00:50Filter screens allow the fuel nozzle in but block larger theft hoses.
00:53Sometimes thieves accidentally pump fuel into the truck instead, which is actually funny.
00:58So biting a rope isn't a strange habit.
01:00It's a homemade fuel alarm system.
01:02Drivers don't fear poor sleep.
01:03They fear waking up to find thousands worth of diesel already gone.
