Truck driving is an earnest living for many in Saskatchewan and across Canada, but a local lumber truck driver who owns Soorma Trucking had quite a week. His semi-truck and trailer were stolen on Tuesday evening.
Gurpreet Singh said the parked truck was locked. He said the thieves broke open a side panel on the door and using the key he keeps hidden in the truck, and drove it away with 32 skids of lumber.
“I had parked the truck on 48th Street East near Wentz Avenue, and when I returned in the morning at 6 a.m. on Wednesday it was missing. I had in the range of $70,000 to $80,000 worth of lumber on it,” Singh said.
Singh said he then called the Saskatoon Police Service and filed a report.
Police confirmed this in a statement to Global News, adding the investigation is ongoing.
Thanks to a number of contacts within the trucking community and social media the semi-truck and trailer were spotted in the parking lot of a Co-op in Colonsay, roughly 45 minutes east of Saskatoon.
Singh drove down on Friday to get his semi-truck and trailer and confronted who he believed had stolen his truck and trailer.
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Singh said the thieves managed to ransack his truck taking just about everything that wasn’t bolted down and one skid of lumber worth more than $2,000.
“The dashboard was smashed, microwave, fridge, speakers, gears, tools, steel toe boots — everything was gone,” Singh added.
Western Lumber Retail Association president Liz Kovach said reports of thefts involving semis with lumber have become more common over the last couple of years.
Especially with the current price of lumber sitting at $1,336.00 USD per 1,000 board feet. The average price is usually in the $385 USD range. That’s four times higher.
“When you look at that it adds additional costs, additional delays, it has a huge impact on people’s ability to see projects through,” Kovach said.
“Not only that but we see a huge delay in transportation via railway and semi-trucks right now due to a number of reasons.” That is only affecting the supply chain even more.
Kovach says lumber from work sites, semi-truck trailer skids, whole trucks and trailers are being reported stolen by the association.
“I talked to the man and woman who I believe stole it from me. I took their pictures and license plate number, after I spoke with them, they just drove away,” Singh said.
Singh is very grateful for all the help.
“I have to thank Stefan Klym at Canadian Diesel Power Trucks in Hanley, for helping me find my truck and trailer, without him I wouldn’t have. Thank you very much.”
Singh added he has had items stolen previously this year and he hopes the SPS will act according to hand out the law to the suspects he believes committed the crime.
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