quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
My God, look at this video

It looks like a train rolling through Haiti or some South American third world shithole.

I am deeply offended by your comment, Sir



Us, South American shitholes, have none of that nice stuff!

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My mind flashes back to when the Famous But Incompetent weren’t and they had teams that went after bank robbers.

It would probably only have to happen once or twice that the miscreants opened a container and caught a hail of lead to put a damper on that sort of activity.

It seems like far too many are more interested in explaining or condoning bad behavior rather than trying to stop it. It must be incredibly frustrating to be an LEO is some of these leftist-run hellholes.

I think this is even better than the empty shelves. It's one thing when companies don't have stuff to sell to consumers. It's another thing when they're getting actual losses that propagate through their supply chain.

quote:

Originally posted by kidcop:
...like this hasn't been going on since they standardized rail gauges...thieves go where the loot is irregardless of who's in charge...

But hey, guys, this is all just par for the course, don't you know...

LA freight train looting 'out of control' as thieves worsen supply chain bottlenecks
Dani Romero
Wed, January 19, 2022, 7:47 AM

The scene in Southern California resembles a disaster movie — only it's not.

Thousands of boxes littering Union Pacific (UNP) train tracks in downtown Los Angeles attest to a wave of rail thefts that have taken place in recent months — worsening supply chain bottlenecks and creating endless delays for consumers and merchants that likely cost millions, if not more.

L.A. has been a hub of major shipping woes in recent months, with the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach a prominent fixture of global supply bottlenecks. The twin hubs handle about 40% of the nation’s maritime imports, with the majority of nearly $450 billion worth of goods eventually moving by rail.

With retailers seeing a wave of "smash and grab" thefts, rail heists are now taking center stage in the latest problem dogging the industry. Over the weekend, Yahoo Finance saw several scavengers picking through the sea trash, hoping to find valuable goods like electronics, clothes or whatever items thieves left behind.

Thieves have been raiding cargo containers, taking packages that belong to people from all over the country from retailers like Amazon (AMZN), Target (TGT), Macy’s (M), Skechers, and others, leading to viral images on social media. Data from the National Retail Federation found that the average loss from organized crime topped $700,000 per $1 billion in sales in 2020.

Some of the refuse left behind included pills, dermatology products, home decor which robbers didn’t want, or simply didn't believe were valuable enough to take.

On Saturday, Yahoo Finance found several packages, and upon entering the tracking number information found they were marked as “on the way – delay.” One was addressed to Oregon State Police from BPS Tactical Inc., a custom Law Enforcement gear company.

Yahoo Finance called and sent photos to the officer and the company about their missing package.

"It's really frustrating and these criminals are just taking over and they rip the box open and take what they want," Sarah Blankenship, vice president of BPS Tactical, said in a phone interview.

Blasting the thefts as "out of control," she demanded "consequences for stuff like this. It just makes me mad that something we made that costs money and people work hard to make and the trooper is not getting his equipment that he needs, because somebody helped himself to something that they shouldn't be taking."

Blankenship said they were sending an exterior vest that was worth over $500 to a trooper in Oregon, but explained this experience had has never happened before, and luckily all their packages are insured.

"I feel like the only thing that's going to change, this is what happens to the criminals and the consequences of what they should be facing for doing these type of things. They need more manpower to enforce it," she told Yahoo Finance.

"We won't change the way we send stuff because we'll still have to go through the same procedures, but we will definitely be following up with our customers more," she added.

https://news.yahoo.com/la-frei...necks-120449879.html

This is a cancer that needs to be forcibly removed from society.

We have a back way to get south when I75 is jammed, as usual. It winds up out of the river valley and puts us on the interstate past the usual traffic jam. Works well, mostly. But from time to time one of the 100 car freight trains is climbing the grade. Over the last 30 or 40 years I've only seen one open container. No crooks, just the evidence. Guess our crooks need to up their game just a tad.

A railroad related war story:
A couple of blocks from my childhood home was the railroad track. This stretch of track was near the top of a long grade which would slow the speed of the trains as they climbed the hill. My buddies and I would then hop into an open boxcar and ride the train into Dayton. All was well until the train arrived at the yard and stopped. Yard workers or RR cops often spotted us and the chase was on. If we got caught, there was a serious ass beating! I managed to get away unseen most of the time but during one adventure, I got flanked by two groups of pursuers and had to try to climb up an embankment. The RR folks did not want to climb up after me so they improvised by pelting me with large rocks, hitting me several times! Ouch! The RR folks took our free train ride as a real affront, even though we just rode and did not steal anything.
So... What happened to all the people who work the tracks? No one around to put a stop to this looting? Seems easily dealt with to me!