WVO theft

[cupcake888]

We have started collection of WVO a couple of months ago and unfortunately our business is suffering from theft.
We have a legitimate contract with all of our WVO suppliers identifying that our company is providing WVO collection services to the establishment.
We are currently using 55 gallon drums, but somebody is continuously stealing our oil along with containers. We secure lid with a lock, but they still successfully roll them out from the back of the restaurant. The barrels have company name and contact information on them.

Not only those thieves stealing our property (secured by legitimate contract), but also ruining our reputation.

How do you secure your containers or what would be a good way to catch these guys? Sitting all day long at the restaurant with a camera is not a good option, but I can't think of anything else.

Please help with an advice

[Brendan C]

Weld a piece of angled metal to the barrel, then loop a chain through it and lock the barrel to a stationary object.

I have pictures that may be helpful in post #21 of this thread: http://frybrid.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14198

[Rawvo]

Originally Posted by cupcake888

We have started collection of WVO a couple of months ago and unfortunately our business is suffering from theft.
We have a legitimate contract with all of our WVO suppliers identifying that our company is providing WVO collection services to the establishment.
We are currently using 55 gallon drums, but somebody is continuously stealing our oil along with containers. We secure lid with a lock, but they still successfully roll them out from the back of the restaurant. The barrels have company name and contact information on them.

Not only those thieves stealing our property (secured by legitimate contract), but also ruining our reputation.

How do you secure your containers or what would be a good way to catch these guys? Sitting all day long at the restaurant with a camera is not a good option, but I can't think of anything else.

Please help with an advice

May take some time but bring a gun with you just in case and wait for the bastard thieves to strike and "RAM" your vehicle into theirs to block them and flatten tire with screw driver and then call then cops and press charges. If crooks take out a bat or knife towards you then you take out your gun and shoot to kill as your life has now been threatened....this is Florida law so I don't know if your state has same gun laws as mine.

I waited many days hoping to catch an SOB oil thief that hit one of my container many times a few years back when fuel cost were high and stealing veg oil was also high. I never got the SOB as I think he or they my have spotted me some how in the area near my account and stopped coming back to vandalize and steal oil from that accounts. I take things personal when they vandalize and repeatedly steal from me with all my warning signs of prosecution plastered all over my containers.

[rkpatt]

You might also need to build a "corral" enclosure. If there is lot of oil involved, maybe it would be worthwhile to purchase a collection bin ( Par-Kan is one brand ).

I suspect that the culprits are probably a collection company .

[Bluebird]

Where in this great land are you? Use a digital hunting camera, I believe Chris our host has posted about those previously they take pics based on movement. Much less violent than ramming a vehicle and using guns etc. stay calm, its just WVO not diamonds or gold, but its your WVO I know. It will pass. Use the camera get pics approach the police with the evidence and hopefully you will get their license number as well as their mug shot.

[bus#3]

Originally Posted by cupcake888

We have a legitimate contract with all of our WVO suppliers identifying that our company is providing WVO collection services to the establishment.

Really, legitimate with who?? IRS? EPA?? FEDS??? Waste management disposal?? Vitto?

Originally Posted by cupcake888

We are currently using 55 gallon drums, but somebody is continuously stealing our oil along with containers.

empty or full drums???

Originally Posted by cupcake888

How do you secure your containers or what would be a good way to catch these guys?

Catch yourself first Dude.. You are breaking a federal law plus many more and you want the cops to help u out.. The veggi police doesnt exist... are u in the veg head to make a buck or to create a more liveable ecosphere http://abcnews.go.com/WN/bp-oil-spil...ry?id=11254252 go catch bp and leave the hippie alone

[J_Galt]

Good luck.... You live in a world that believes that waste is free for the taking, and most people consider used vegetable oil as waste. If you catch the people stealing 'your' waste oil, you'll have a hard time convincing the cops to charge them and unless you've got lots of money to piss away, I doubt if you'll get a lawyer to take the case.

Unless you can convince the restaurants to put the used oil back into buckets or cubies for you to pick up on oil change day, then you're pretty much out of luck.

[bus#3]

.............

[Rawvo]

Originally Posted by bus#3

are u in the veg head to make a buck or to create a more liveable ecosphere...

Me I'm in it to make a buck in our capitalistic system so it will be more affordable for others to create what ever livable exosphere they dream of. The sun warming your body is the only free livable form of energy you can have for free.

Originally Posted by bus#3

go catch bp and leave the hippie alone

Me love BP for keeping the lights on and helping America be energy independent. No one will care for a dead hippie thief so don't be a hippie.

Originally Posted by J_Galt

Good luck.... You live in a world that believes that waste is free for the taking, and most people consider used vegetable oil as waste. If you catch the people stealing 'your' waste oil, you'll have a hard time convincing the cops to charge them.

This is why its much easier to show the crooks your not playing games when you ram there vehicle and break a few bones. The cops will more than likely arrest and charge the "hippie" oil thief for loitering, vandalism, disturbing the public, or attempted assault if he is not shot by the owner of oil account with a carry on. Some times you need to take advantage of all the "other laws" the scum thief's will be "provoked" to break went confronted by the angry oil account owner Even if the crook plays nice you tell the police officers he threaten your life with a weapon he had on hand and chased you away.
At the end you goal is to make the crook understand that stealing your oil will have severe consequences. :

[nick]

I had a guy that was taking my oil a long time ago. My supplier use to leave out the cubies of oil for me to pick up, but sometimes the thief would slip in between the time when they fill the cubes and when I would show up. So, I came up with a way of getting them to stop stealing the oil.

I had the restaurant call me when they emptied their fryers. Then I'd go directly to pick it up. Beforehand, I filled up some old empty cubes with colored water or goopie sludge with rotted food in it. I told the restaurant that I would take the good oil, and leave these decoy cubies for the culprit. Sure enough, those decoys were gone in a few hours. The funny thing was, colored water inside a cube really didn't look much different than oil, as long as it stayed inside the box. You really didn't see the difference between oil and water until you were poring it into a filter barrel or other container.

After a few cubes of junk oil, the thief stopped taking oil from that restaurant.