Wasps. Wasps are evil in and of themselves. They were either created by the Devil in a flash of brilliant giddiness, or by God at 06:30 after an all-nighter with a rack of ribs and jug of apple brandy.
An open question to owners of unmarked van companies.
- Thread starter xiggi
- Start date
Whenever you give context to an unmarked van, you provide more to discuss in a meaningful way. To add additional context, you might include the type of area (residential, light industrial, ship yard, etc.). Once context is established, your firm belief can be discussed. But since it is already a firm belief, it is probably fair to say that the belief is providing the context that justifies the belief.
Is the unmarked van an expediter wandering around in an industrial park, or an unmarked police vehicle on patrol in a residential neighborhood? We need to know what we are talking about before using some vague notion of an unmarked van to paint all of them as suspicious. And we need to account fully for the fact that different people view unmarked vans in different ways.
I forgot this is the unmarked police van forum.
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Then you would know those guys were at some point in a white unmarked van. They werent in there for driving around offering candy out of their toyota camera.
Not necessarily true. Bad guys drive all sorts of vehicles. Ted Bundy had a VW bug, if I remember right, with the rear seat removed. If I were to decide to become a bad guy I might very well choose a Toyota Camry, the reason being that the car will disappear in a sea of similar vehicles.
This article comes out of Austrailia but reading it educated me about the white van myth. While the myth is false, there are some people who nevertheless believe and act on it.
Man in white van 'an urban myth'
Man in white van 'an urban myth'
By a very strange coincidence department: One of our fellows suggests bad guys don't use Toyota Camrys for their mis-deeds. Now, in the thread on the shootings in Michigan, one of the links says that police are looking for-- oh, I know you won't believe this-- a dark brown 1998 Toyota Camry. How come not an unmarked white van??? No mention in the story that the police are looking for a white van. Hmmmmm...... could it be that bad guys don't stick to one type of vehicle, but they use whatever they have available?
guido4475
Not a Member
We're on a mission from God.
7 pages? I drive a silver unmarked van. I have never been denied access to a shipper or receiver. I have never been pulled over by the police, even when taking short cuts through neighborhoods. I have never been questioned or asked to leave a truck stop or rest area. I have never been questioned by Walmart or shopping center security. I see no problem running unmarked. Just my experiances!
Fr8 Shaker
Veteran Expediter
I for the life of me cannot figure out why it bothers so many people because a van is running without decals other than for the fact that they are just nosy and feel the need to know of everything that is going on. Whether it's a big name co. or just a 1 or 2 vehicle operation what does it matter to you ? Will it change the way you do business that day ? Are you going to leave because you don't know who it is ? Face it your just nosy and you don't have the balls to take your decals off. But I'm sure most of you would snitch in a heartbeat just to make sure you feel all righteous.
Did anyone in any post say it bothers them?
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I, for the life of me, cannot figure out how someone could read this entire thread, comprehend what they read, and conclude "nosy" as the sole reason for the concern about unlettered vehicles in this industry. Wow.
purgoose10
Veteran Expediter
Please turn to page 8. Thankyou.
Fr8 Shaker
Veteran Expediter
Guess I jumped to the conclusion because this thread about plain wrapper vans comes up about twice a year.
Depends on how many posts you've set to show per-page in your profile settings.
Yeah, but you've only been expediting since about June, and for a little while prior to 9/11. The longer you do this, the greater the chances of you getting questioned by security or asked to leave a parking lot, lettered or not.
I actually started expediting again in August 2011. Just didn't find this site until June of 2012. Also did this for a while in 1998-99 but quit for a while. Fuel prices were rising, they wanted me to pay for a Qualcomm, they wanted me to buy a newer van and they wanted to cut my rate from $1.20 down to $.90 per mile. That was at the beginning with Towne Air Freight starting up their Rocket division. Thought it was going to be too expensive to make any money! I think I made a mistake leaving the industry when I did, but I'm back and learning and loving it.
After deciding to speak with a few other van owners and drivers in the business we have come to this conclusion. The vans without rear windows get pulled over much more than the vans with rear windows, regardless of signage. For a long time I drove a panel van with no windows behind the cab. The van was fully decaled including the big red "E". After I thought about it this van was pulled over many times more than any of the vans I've driven before or since.
Dat1stChoice
Active Expediter
Mines a 2012 Express with no windows, no lettering, and I've put 50k on her since June. No issues with anyone, owners, managers or LEO. So I don't know about the window thing......I mean I guess I could see the issue, but I haven't had one. I don't like not having rear windows though, visibility is nice for safety sake.
Nice thing about lack of windows? Not having the sun wake you up when it comes up, no matter where it rises! Stays warmer in the back end too, not sure if thats the factory insulation or lack of windows though. (mine has the wall coverings in back with the ultra thin foam backer supposedly for noise)
Nice thing about lack of windows? Not having the sun wake you up when it comes up, no matter where it rises! Stays warmer in the back end too, not sure if thats the factory insulation or lack of windows though. (mine has the wall coverings in back with the ultra thin foam backer supposedly for noise)