Top Secret Transport--How it is REALLY done.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I'm always amazed at the stupidity dispatch shows.

reply to post by tonyb1968


It makes total sense. If we had trucks that said, "Top secret stuff in here - don't look." dontcha think it'd get some attention. Nobody pays much attention to a normal semi. It's the perfect way to send stuff around the country. Everyone is none the wiser.

Wrabbit2000
reply to post by tonyb1968

 

I have a question up front. Did it pull like it was really 500lbs, or do you have a dash scale/suspension gauge to see if it was near what they claimed?

What you're describing is nothing unusual to what I heard about in my years on the road. For others not familiar with it, there are some companies that dedicate to doing little or nothing but this kind of hauling. Everything from bombs to blankets to coins. I never got onto one like this, and I'm not sure I've have said yes if one had been offered where I'd worked. Just a lot of hassle. (Although a 'don't stop for ANYTHING' pass would have been kinda neat for the novelty of the meaning. Of course, they mean anything)

edit on 3-4-2014 by Wrabbit2000 because: (no reason given)

As a retired driver myself, a 500 pound load would be almost like having an empty trailer. He would notice how light it was. I once hauled an inert smart bomb from Groom Lake to Pine Bluff, Arkansas. They were testing different modes of shipping, like air, rail, truck, etc. I never had to go through anything like he's explaining, so I suspect it was very top secret. No truck I know of comes with a built in scale.

reply to post by Okeyd57


Freightliner has a suspension air gauge on the dash. With some practice and experience you can use it to get a pretty good guesstimate of your weight.

reply to post by Okeyd57


I keep forgetting most stripped company trucks (which I suppose is most of the national fleets) don't have things like this. Maybe it's just me, but it was a real pain finding pics of them too. I ran for Trailiner for about 5 years, as the last company before coming off the road and they all had them. Ours were more like the first example but that axle air suspension gauge is what basically powers the second example. I'd looked into what it would cost..since I was running for a small fleet owner who would have let me do the conversion.





It was a lifesaver for produce, since everything ran close to gross, then axle balance coming out of California wasn't something to play with (or bridge law). If you get a scale ticket a couple times to confirm where weights align on the analog scale and use the calculator for how much weight is loaded on, you get both tandem and drive weights (roughly) from the one gauge. Of course...I'd never (5th amendment inserted here) cross a state scale based on that alone. I always checked a CAT scale to be sure.

If I were to take a guess, you were driving something "hot". Spent fuel rods from a power plant, or something like cobalt 60 which is used for medical or research purposes. When it comes to radiological stuff, it's one of the few things the U.S. government doesn't dick around with in regards to transport. They keep close tabs on it. (So you don't have incidents like the one that happened in Mexico not too long ago.)

A few types of hazmat or certain biohazardous materials may be treated this way too. But they probably don't want you ####'ing yourself or sweatin' it when driving a load, so they don't tell you what it is. It stays contained and gets where it's going, you're all good. But it should also be fairly obvious why they don't want any risk of theft or incident near populated areas.

Wrabbit2000
It was a lifesaver for produce, since everything ran close to gross, then axle balance coming out of California wasn't something to play with (or bridge law).

Oh god don't get me started on that. Our last Cali produce load, we had half a tank and grossed out on their scale at 79880. They dropped 700 pounds off it, and after we fueled, we were just about touching 79900. Made for a LONG run out.

reply to post by pauljs75


Class 7 Radioactives don't always have security around them. I see them all the time, and can count on one hand the number of them that I've seen with security cars. They're also clearly marked as Hazmat, and without the endorsement, you aren't carrying them.

Regular criminals, organizations, and people send cash money, drugs, illegal art, illegal pharmaceuticals, alcohol, weapons, etc. through means like UPS/Fedex/USPS all the time. Many swear it is the easiest, safest, and most anonymous way to conduct that type of business.

The gov't (USPS) uses private trucking all the time for mail, which contains tons of sensitive and valuable information. It would not surprise me in the least to learn that the gov't ships high security items through standard hauling/freight companies. It could have been anything from a weapon to sensitive documents, a stack of hard drives or a server, or even nothing just to run a test or training exercise.

I most curious if staying away from big cities is because that's where most trailer hijacks happen, or the concern was a dangerous load being in a populated area. Any security statistics from you regular haulers?

Final question: What do the pick up and drop off areas look like? Were they typical trailer spots? Forgive me for not knowing the lingo, I have never been in your business. I do have a lot of respect for the trucking industry - It would be chaos if you all at once decided to stop driving!

This thread is one of the more intriguing on the current hot list. Thanks for sharing this one OP.

reply to post by Arktos1


Quite a bit for the military gets shipped in regular looking shipping containers on the back of flatbeds. Some gets shipped in a regular van type trailer, and you'll never know it's anything not routinely carried.

One of the bigger high value loads I carried gave us a list of truck stops that we weren't supposed to stop at. All in higher theft areas. Whenever we stopped, we had to park in a well lit area, with the back of the trailer against something so the doors couldn't be opened, and one of us had to be on the truck at all times.

High value loads are more of a pain in the ass than anything honestly.

back when i was a bright eyed, highly motivated Marine. i was stationed here for a while.
check the picture between the Marine Corps and Navy seal.
Marine Barracks, NAS Cecil Field

here's the sites slide show, starting with the fifth picture is the Marines Barracks/ Weapons Dept.
Yellow Water Slide Show.

i pulled security on a few weapons move, and loaded what we called the super trucks. i can tell you you didn't move any thing that was a special weapon. you would have had escort all around. and known it.

here is a youtube, the trucks were used back then looked just about like these and you can't tell them from the outside unless you know what to look for and back then they were late 70's early 80's tractors. the trailers are special too.

there were all kinds of rumors about them.
one was that the trucks had rams in all four corners of the trailer, that could be triggered by the driver, that would drive into the ground and they blow out all the tires, to keep anyone from driving away with the trailer if they lost control of the truck. i can tell you for certain that the doors and wall were extra thick.

if you ever see a truck that has two or three suburbans vans, or crewcab pickups with tinted windows, and govt plates that's a hanging around the truck, it's more than likely a weapon. well at least back then it was.

More Information:

I remember that one of our fuel stops was originally scheduled for the flying j on I-20 in S. Dallas on Bonnie View rd. I called dispatch and informed them that we were to NOT stop in the city and we were given a fuel solution for Leary, Texas at the new Love's located there and told to AVOID the Flying j at exit #7 in Arkansas. Our next fuel stop was in Nashville, TN AFTER our drop.
The locks were destroyed using bolt cutters to cut the locking hoops off the locks near the lock body....no hoop means the lock cannot be used again unless welded back together. We had to turn in our keys also and watch them be destroyed by cutting....we were re-imbursed for the lock purchase.
I do not know where the load originated from or where it's final destination is, but I have it on reasonably good authority that it was gov't computer parts and software. Do not quote me on that as I cannot be certain WHAT was in the trailer. Keep in mind that I have hauled close to FORTY of these types of loads and security is much tighter than, say, a liquor or tobacco load or other High Value/High Security loads.
We were warned off of stops at I-30, exit 121( Pilot) and I -40, exit 161 (pilot, flying j, love's, petro). In Little rock, AR.
I drive a freightliner Cascadia with an Eaton/Fuller 10 speed and few upgrades....a standard fleet truck. Yes, some trucks now have on board scales but most big companies will not pop for such a high priced accessory.
The more I think about it, the more I am convinced it may have been a Top Secret type of load and we were given "plausible deniability" because we were "just another trucking team".
Some have said that my mentioning this could be dangerous to my health, but let's remember that I basically know NOTHING. I did not SEE it loaded, all I have is the bills of lading. I did not see it opened and cannot truthfully attest as to what was in the trailer.....nor can my teammate. We simply drove a random load for 24 hours and dropped it at a secure facility.
Someone asked about the pickup and drop locations. To answer that, both were secure, fenced truck lots that require specific information to enter and exit. Driver's license numbers, truck numbers, company names, driver numbers, etc

AnteBellum
reply to post by docnorton

 

I more worried about when it looks like war of the worlds!

I didn't mean aliens are digging underground, if that's what you inferred, the USA is.
They have become exceedingly efficient at it!
Matrix plug there, felt right. . .

Exactly!
This is a USAF Tunnel bore from the 70's!

reply to post by Violater1


We discussed that in one of my old threads here www.abovetopsecret.com... if anyone is interested.

P

Pajamathief
I live around the Champaign, IL area and lately I've noticed huge convoys of semi trucks ( ten or more ) going down our main streets at night, usually around 8pm - 10pm. It's happened at least once a month that I've seen, since around November of last year, and I've never seen a convoy of trucks so it was suspicious. Do commercial companies like yours do this, or are they military convoys of some sort?

Trucks do that in my town when an accident puts a jam on the interstate, they drive "back roads" for miles to by-pass the trouble.

Interesting thread!

Quote: "...meaning that we only stop for fuel and food twice every 24 hours...for about 30 minutes while we switch drivers."

So, no rules in the USA for breaks? I mean, in Europe, as far as I know, we have a thing called tachometer (a mechanical recording disk), and the driver is just allowed max 4 hours of straight driving. Did you have special permit at the time, or your drivers can just drive along for how long they want??

reply to post by mactaties


Each driver can run up to 11 hours, and has to take a 30 minute beak within the first 8 of starting to drive. After their shift they have to take a 10 hour break.

reply to post by hounddoghowlie


It's interesting to hear you describe it this way, as I've seen it from the other side twice in my career. It was Wyoming in both cases and I believe they were moving Minuteman II stuff. Anyway, you're right. When it's a real weapon they're moving, there is absolutely nothing sneaky or subtle about it. I saw them coming both times by the air support flying over the convoy in the form of helicopters. The group around the massive truck/trailer combo was equally serious and military in nature. No one was getting within a close distance of those things in transit.

I wish I'd gotten pics but I wasn't a pic person on the road and I missed so much that way.

It was a memorable thing to see though, both times. It's amazing to see those convoys and know of course, what all the security is for, in terms of what's in the middle of it all.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


There's been a LOT of Class 7 stuff moving around lately. Nothing like that sadly, but I've seen more in the last few months than ever before.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Thanx Zaph!

Didn't know that (being a fan of trucks - and flying... - sims ). Really different rules from Europe (although, of course, there are ways to "bend" them, eastern truckers being experts on that - an off topic detail: saw once a documentary where the russian train drivers - engineers as per USA parlance - all carried a loop wire in their pockets, to circumvent the automatic train protection system - and a bottle of wodka too :cool.

But, more to the point: this thread reminds me of something I've read, historical artifacts from south America being dispatched to the USA by UPS

Best secrets are better kept under your (ours) nose, also reminds me of the "saucers" transported in the motorway.