Heavy Haulers

Vehicles: One 2007 Kenworth Dump Truck, and Two 2006 Kenworth Dump Trucks

Debtor: “Mike’s Hauling Inc.”

Location: Ohio

Time of year: Spring

It was going to be a long ride but the pay for this account was well worth it.  We were looking for 3 Kenworth Semi-Trucks.  We had information that all 3 trucks would be parked at the same yard outdoors and the keys should be  inside of them.  We left at 7pm on a Friday evening.  It was a 3 1/2 hour ride to where they were supposed to be so we wanted to make sure we were there waiting when the companies drivers pulled the trucks into the lot for the weekend.  When we got to the address on the paperwork we discovered the building was empty and was up for sale.  We also noticed the building next door had a “For Sale By Owner” sign in front of it.  Dave called the number on the sign and spoke to the owner of the neighboring building.  He said he wasn’t sure where “Mike’s Hauling Inc.” had moved to but he heard they were still in business and that they were not far away.  He also told us that the guy that owned the Ice Cream shop across the street was friends with Mike and he might know more.  I went across the street and spoke to the ice cream guy’s wife.  She said that “Mike’s Hauling” moved one city over into a new building about 3 1/2 months ago.  While I was talking to this lady my phone beeped….it was Dave.  He was snooping around the lot at the vacant building and found something he wanted me to see.  Behind the building, way in the back of the lot was a smashed Kenworth covered up with 3 or 4 large tarps.  This thing was destroyed !!!  It took us 5 or 6 minutes just to find the VIN. When we did find it we discovered it was one of the trucks we were looking for.  It had been stripped of any and all useful parts including most of it’s interior.  Dave jumped inside the mangled messed up cab and started fumbling through the storage compartments.  It wasn’t long before he was shouting my name.  He found an address on some paperwork that was in the passenger side pocket.  It was for their new building.  It was a copy of their new lease agreement.  LOL…off we go.

After quickly taking a bunch of photos of our smashed unit, we hopped back into the truck  and set the GPS to the new address.  It said our ETA was only 8 minutes away.  We were a little worried about the Ice Cream shop lady calling her husband who would probably call our debtor and tip him off. But, we knew even if he did tip off our debtor he wouldn’t have enough time to move the other two trucks before we got there.  We pulled up to the new addy and it couldn’t have been more beautiful.  As we pulled into the drive we could see 3 Kenworths trucks in the back lot.  We immediately VIN’d all 3 trucks and determined which two were ours.  The doors were unlocked and the keys were in the ignitions.  Just like we were told, NICE!!!  We fired up both trucks and while they warmed up for a bit we called a friend to come drive our wrecker back to Michigan and the local authorities to inform them of the repossession in progress.  We drove the Semi trucks around the corner where they could not be seen and I walked back to get the wrecker while Dave stayed with the collateral.  About an hour later our driver showed up and we headed back to Michigan.  We only got 2 out of the 3 but the photo’s of the smashed truck got us paid 1/2 the repo fee.  We got back to Michigan about 4 hours later and notified the bank of it’s repossessed vehicles.  Three weeks later the debtor paid current on all three loans and was able to redeem the trucks.  We found out then that he was inside the 3rd truck that was at the lot sleeping the whole time.  He never even heard us start the trucks and drive away.  That was that…..we got paid and so did the bank. The debtor got his trucks back and we will be able to get them again another day….that is, unless he keeps up on his payments this time.  We’ll see…….