Top Secret Transport--How it is REALLY done.

Hey Tony,

We were required to purchase and use two heavy padlocks. We were to keep one key and turn it in to the secure lot and give one to the briefing officer--it was over-nighted to the drop location

The whole thing is very mysterious, I'll grant you that, but if the load was truly that sensitive/secret why would they allow you to provide the locks and give you a key? If I were shipping something of that nature and had the clout, I'd provide you with the locks . . . but no key.

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.

. . .The locks were destroyed along with the keys upon delivery. We had to witness and sign statements to this effect

What's the purpose in doing this? Perhaps to keep you from re-using the locks the next time you made a similar run, locks you might have made duplicate keys for? I'm not saying you specifically, but I'm just trying to understand the reasoning.

Thanks for a great story Tony

reply to post by imwilliam

Locks always come with duplicates and I have yet to see one that can't be defeated in record time. I once bought a kryptonite lock (for like 90 bucks) and had it on my job trailer, we lost the keys and I was able to saw it off with a sawzall with a DULL WOOD BLADE in 20 minutes. Crowbar and pipe wrench are much quicker but they were locked inside. I'm sure there are better ones out there but it is something like a deterrent. I think the best lock would have something like a directionally shaped charge so people would know what's up.

That said, very interesting thread. Operational security should be tight and you never know what kind of intel is on the line. Sort of reminds me of Fast and Furious 1, the movie where truckers were getting hijacked.

It's like the best way to avoid a bad situation is to not put yourself into a bad, or untenable, situation.

Sometimes you don't want to know things, just like, what has been seen can't be unseen. Blissfully unaware usually doesn't have a big danger factor.

My two cents. Thanks for the contributions everyone, especially the mods for relaying experience.

reply to post by mactaties


I wish I had those documents to share with you, but we were instructed to place them in a trip pack envelope and send them directly to the company. All other load documents are kept on the truck for six months, then destroyed. This little hiccup in our routine is one of the points that alerted me to something really shady going on.
Also, I NEVER noticed any air resources tailing us. The fact is, MAYBE a pro could have spotted us, but for the most part, we appeared to be just like every other truck on the road except for the rules we were made to follow.
Other loads are just as suspicious. Why would anyone pay $1200 in driver pay alone, for an expedited team truck to haul a load from Penn to Cali with the same security requirements? Weighed 5 lbs according to bills....again, we mailed them off the truck asap. I only have about 18 months experience. Partner only has about 5. We are NOOBS.
I assure you, next time I get one of these loads, I will photograph the bills and post them at my earliest chance. One of these loads went to a MAJOR military complex in VA....where we were required to drop the trailer and park next to it and await a military transport to pick it up and return it empty....we weren't even allowed on the base. As I said, close to 40 loads have had this sort of security...in 18 months. When I push for answers, I get the "standard" excuse.....GOV'T pc parts. STILL sounds a bit shady to me.

reply to post by tonyb1968


Thanks to everyone for all the awesome replies. This is great and I will continue to offer info as I get it.
That being said, here is my theory:
Suppose you wanted to deliver a load across the country without certain people noticing. You know that every major power has spies and that they are most likely watching you. If you move this object by military transport, it will be seen and reported. Even the "ghost fleet" is quite well known...it can be searched online. CT sites mention it quite often.
But use a "middle-of-the-road, corporate trucking company and a couple of unseasoned drivers with minimal shadowing and a strict set of protocols, and it looks....just ordinary. Set up the load four times...with random carriers and random delivery dates. Keep an eye out from a distance... You now have a perfectly secure delivery system that has plausible deniability built in. Even the drivers know NOTHING. The only news of this MAJOR move is on the CT sites and everyone KNOWS those guys can be "Looney" sometimes. There are no helicopters, no Marines with assault rifles, no cameras. Very little paperwork...and it is faked. The military transport is a GREAT decoy....let everyone watch IT while we move the good stuff...right under everyone's noses.

reply to post by tonyb1968


so how were you to handle weigh stations and/or commercial vehicle enforcment?
It seems like there would be too many security flaws moving really high priority payloads this way.

reply to post by jfj123


You cross them. As long as they don't break the seal there isn't an issue.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Absolutely correct! The transponder on our windshield reports our company and their history of bad inspections after we cross the Interstate mounted scales. The weigh station computer sees this and determines whether we need to be inspected or not and gives us a red, yellow, or green light and audible tone. If the light and tone are green, we proceed down the Interstate. Yellow or red lights mean that we pull thru and go across the scales. As long as we appear to be legal in weight and pass a quick visual inspection, we are sent back to the Interstate. A light that is out may force a stop and closer inspection, but mostly, we go right thru. It is like the paperwork reduction act for big trucks. If this company usually inspects clean, then they will inspect fewer of those trucks. It is a numbers game.
If you are pulled over for inspection, you may get a level 1, 2, or 3 inspection in most cases--they go up to level 5, I believe. !-3 are the most common. After about 18 months of driving, I have gotten only one level three inspection and the trooper was stopping every other truck. He looked at my insurance card, my license, and my bills. Then he returned to the truck 5 minutes later and told me to be safe and have a nice day.
We get all green lights at scales during these loads...I cannot say whether this is planned or just our dumb luck...I do not think anyone really can say.
Also some questions about our "escorts". There are usually two unmarked vehicles that enter the Interstate from the shoulder near larger cities. On this trip, that means Dallas, Texarkana, Little Rock, and Memphis. They may be any year, make or model and any color. I have seen older Escapes, Taurus, Malibu, Impalas....in silver, red, black, blue, etc. They usually take up positions about 1/2 a mile ahead of and behind us but may speed up, slow down, or change positions randomly during our passage through these cities. They join about 20 miles out, one mile apart and exit after we are twenty miles passed the city. They appear to be normal traffic except for their GOV'T plates and the fact that they are never out of site of this truck.
A considerable amount of effort is put into us "looking" like a legitimate, normal truck load with NO escort. And we know NOTHING of our load, etc. It begins to become quite suspicious after you witness it from our perspective.

reply to post by Zaphod58


I'm not a trucker...
so you start the thread?

:-)

Everyone here would read it!

Straight out of an early episode of The X Files. Only difference being, they usually had one of their own agents driving the trucks.