Theft and logbook trouble often share a week

When a previous carrier writes that they stole fuel, a tablet, or a truck, the useful next question is not only the money. It is whether logbook and hours problems sit in the same file. Those two show up together far more often than chance. Treat that pairing as an advance screen before you hand over a unit, not as two separate complaints.

Among the reviews carriers left on CDLScan, 8.8% mention theft or money games. That figure describes those reviews, not drivers in general: carriers write after a bad run, so the share tells you what shows up once someone bothers to report it.

Inside that slice, 7.9% also mention logbook and hours problems. Read the denominator before you use the number. It is 7.9% of theft reviews, not 7.9% of all reviews, and not 7.9% of logbook reviews. Flip the pair and the share changes: 15.3% of logbook reviews also mention theft or money games. Same overlap, two bases.

That pairing is not random. Logbook and hours problems are 4.6% of all reviews. If theft and logbook trouble showed up together only by chance, you would expect about 4.6% of theft reviews to also mention logbook and hours problems. The observed share is 7.9% — about 1.7 times the chance rate. Lift is that multiplier. It is not a probability that the next person you hire will steal fuel and disconnect an ELD.

The money, then the logs

The write-ups talk about stole truck, stole fuel, a fuel card, stole tablet, stole equipment, a cash advance, a flight ticket, a log book, a disconnected ELD, left truck, a loaded trailer, the first load, a truck stop. That is the incident register.

Stay away and waste your time are a different register. Those are the author’s recommendation to the next recruiter, not a description of what the driver did. In 37.4% of theft reviews the carrier also writes a verdict. In 32.7% of logbook reviews they do the same. That is a fact about how these reviews end, not a fact about the driver. Read the scene. Do not hire off the temperature of the last sentence.

From the theft side, the louder companions dwarf this pair. An abandoned truck sits in 35.5%. A crash or damage sits in 13.7%. Aggression or threats sit in 10.8%. Drugs or alcohol sit in 9.2%. Equipment or a fuel card that never returned sits in 8.7%. Paid travel that never became a start sits in 7.2%. Logbook trouble is not the most common companion. It is the one that can leak into a filing if someone actually falsified logs.

From the logbook side, an abandoned truck sits in 36.2%. Aggression sits in 22.3%. A crash or damage sits in 21.3%. Late or missed deliveries sit in 17.6%. Going unreachable sits in 9.5%. Equipment or a fuel card that never returned sits in 7.4%. Always name which base you are standing on.

I keep the logs next to the theft because the packet you already buy is built for hours and inspections, not for stole fuel. A disconnected ELD can leak into a filing. A missing tablet usually cannot. The theft trend itself is in theft or money games in carrier reviews. A fuel card that never comes back is theft and a missing fuel card. Hours in the same history are in logbook mentions that are falling, not gone. Missing equipment next to the logs is logbook trouble and missing equipment.

The share of reviews mentioning theft or money games ran 6.6% in 2018, 9.0% in 2019, 10.5% in 2020, 7.8% in 2021, 9.1% in 2022, 9.4% in 2023, 9.5% in 2024, and 9.0% in 2025. I stop that line at 2025. 2026 is still open. The mention did not fade. It sat near nine percent for most of the completed years.

Logbook mentions ran 5.0% in 2018, 5.8% in 2019, 6.5% in 2020, 5.5% in 2021, 5.5% in 2022, 4.6% in 2023, 4.3% in 2024, and 3.7% in 2025. The theft line held. The logbook line fell. How these shares are counted is on the methodology page. Compare percentages inside each year, not year totals.

What the pairing is not

It is not proof that every theft write-up is a hours problem. Most theft reviews do not also mention logbook and hours problems. 7.9% is a heavy overlap relative to chance, not a majority.

It is also not a CSA score. Theft in these write-ups is an employment complaint: stole fuel, stole a tablet, a fuel card that never came back. Logbook trouble can sit next to that complaint and leak into a filing if someone actually falsified logs. The theft itself usually cannot.

An abandoned truck in the same review is the ending you are trying not to buy. 35.5% of theft reviews also mention it. That is why a missing fuel card is not a small property issue. It is often the first cash out the door before the truck is sitting somewhere.

Why the packet you already buy stays quiet

PSP, an MVR, and the Clearinghouse hold what someone filed: a roadside inspection, a recorded crash, a failed test, a license action. Stole fuel is usually not a filing unless someone called the police. A disconnected ELD can leak into that packet. Most of this pairing will not.

Previous-employer forms are not much better. Eligible for rehire can come back blank while the same desk will later write that they stole fuel and disconnected the ELD. The behavior lives in carrier-to-carrier memory. Most of that memory never becomes a query result.

A clean packet on Monday morning does not tell you whether Tuesday’s fuel card comes back. Those are different claims.

I am not going to pretend this is an independent study. CDLScan is the source, and I write from the data they share. Theft is common enough in what carriers bother to write down, logbook trouble rides along far above chance, and the packet you already run is designed for hours, not for the missing card.

What was visible before you handed over a unit

The pattern I’d watch for is a previous carrier who already used stole fuel, fuel card, stole tablet, log book, or disconnected ELD, plus a hole between two recent jobs. Those words are not a violation code. They are a reason to look the name up before you give out a unit.

Typical sequence, built from how these reviews cluster, not from one person’s file: they start. They take a fuel card or a tablet. The first load runs. Then the logs look wrong, or the ELD gets disconnected. Home time becomes the argument. Sometimes the next line is that they left the truck. Sometimes they stay and the money just keeps moving. People who left cleanly can usually tell you what equipment they had and how they ran logs. People who are about to walk often skip the freight and jump to the card.

None of that is a reason to treat every missing receipt as a walk-off. It is a reason to run the name before the first live load.

What to do before you dispatch

Look the name up in what previous carriers already wrote. If you see theft and logbook problems in the same history, treat the first week as a supervised start, not as a full assignment.

Ask what equipment they had, how they ran logs at the last carrier, and what that desk will say about the fuel card. Then make the call. Five open questions beat a rehire box.

If you already assigned a unit, freeze the next loaded trailer until someone has looked. A clean packet on Monday morning does not tell you whether the card comes back. Those are different claims.

The 8.8% share is not a reason to treat every applicant as a theft risk. It is a reason to stop reading a clean packet as “this person will not take the card.” Check the name on CDLScan before the spend. It takes less than a minute.

Frequently asked questions

Does 7.9% mean theft usually comes with logbook trouble?

No. 7.9% is the share of theft reviews that also mention logbook and hours problems, among reviews carriers left on CDLScan. Most theft write-ups do not include that companion. The pairing is far above chance. It is not a majority.

Why is the other share 15.3%?

Because the base changed. 15.3% of logbook reviews also mention theft or money games. Same overlap, counted from the other side. Always name the denominator.

What does lift 1.7 mean here?

Logbook and hours problems are 4.6% of all reviews. Seeing them in 7.9% of theft reviews is about 1.7 times the chance rate. Lift is that multiplier, not the odds on your next hire.

Will PSP or an MVR warn me?

Sometimes about the hours, if something was filed. Not about the card. Those reports hold inspections, recorded crashes, and license events. Stole fuel is usually not filed there unless someone called the police.

Is this the same problem as an abandoned truck?

Often nearby, not the same. 35.5% of theft reviews also mention an abandoned truck. That is the ending you are trying not to buy. Theft and logbook trouble are the middle of the week.

What should I ask before I assign a unit?

What equipment they had, how they ran logs at the last carrier, and why the last job ended. Then read the write-ups.

Where do I check the name?

On CDLScan, before the first live load. Previous carriers already wrote this pairing down. You should read it while the truck is still yours.