The high prices at the pump could be behind a growing problem -- gas stolen right out of the tank.
The past few months have brought a rash of gas thefts especially to operators of large vehicles, and the thieve are getting technical.
It may not et very good gas mileage, but how could Haknook Movers’ truck go through a tank of gas sitting at the lot overnight?
"One time they cut this big hose so I made a steel cover," says owner Jin Bum, pointing out how the gas was siphoned the first time.
It happened again a few weeks later.
And when the tank read a quarter-full this morning after a fresh fill up last night, he found this a contraption mounted right on his tank to siphon out the gas – a clear-plastic tube with a coupling fastened to the tank.
"This is not the first time,” says company employee Happy Fautanu. “If they can put that in our truck, they can put that in any truck."
They don't know whose doing it, but they know the motive.
"I guess the price of the gas is up, that's why they’re stealing gas," Fautanu said.
They feel the same over at United Truck Rental, which had been hit by a gas thief frequently -- costing them more than just lost gas.
"They would come and either siphon it or poke holes underneath and just let the gas come out," said Cora Moniz. “We've had where we have to replace it. We have to replace the whole part that they poke holes in it. It's not cheap. It's expensive."
They're not going to take it anymore.
"So now we don't fill our trucks up anymore,” Moniz said. “We just put it enough to where the people can just go out, and put gas in. That's it."
They rent out the trucks with just a little gas and tell the customers it's OK to bring it back the same way. Not much gas left on the lot.
"We're losing out money if we do put the gas back in and it just gets taken," Moniz said. “They're not going to get any gas, so they're wasting their time coming here."
The rental company plans to install locking gas caps on all vehicles. The moving company says they'll leave the trucks near empty overnight. Neither had filed police reports for the reoccurring thefts.