I was the Crew Leader for a major Armored Truck company for 5 years. AMA

My friend was killed by a Brinks truck when it turned right and rolled over her and her bike. How common are accidents with armored trucks?

This question absolutely hits a very sensitive nerve with me. I take medication because of these two stories.

• During late 2017 my crew and I witnessed Another Armored Truck Company slide through an intersection and t-bone a small truck similar to a Ford Ranger. The elderly woman driving the small truck died at the scene. I took a picture as it happened because I knew Law Enforcement would ask around and find out that another Armored company witnessed it. Here is that picture

https://imgur.com/C0g5nsj

• My last story is pretty personal. Before I met my wife (happily married and blessed with a 1 month old son). I was in a serious relationship with another Crew Leader. This was kept very quiet because the rules for relationships were very strict. Most people “kinda knew” because both of us would roll into the parking lot at the same time nearly every morning.

Anyways, I believe this to be early fall of 2015. It was business as usual. We rolled into the parking lot, pretended to hate each other in front of the other officers, load our trucks up and go our separate ways. She had a new-hire driving for her. This new-hire had all the pre-existing symptoms of undiagnosed sleep apnea and other crew leaders had reported him falling asleep behind the wheel on extended drives between contracts.

During this transit (90 minutes between contracts) the New-Hire fell asleep behind the wheel and rear-ended a Semi Truck at 65 Mph. The semi was fully loaded, so Gross weight of......65,000-80,000lbs? The impact was so forceful that my Significant Others’ seatbelt buckle snapped. The seatbelt flung to the side and she hit the Bulkhead door at 65mph. (The bulkhead door is a heavy door that separates the front cab to the rear. It locks open while in transit and stays closed while sitting on site. This is due to the side door the messenger uses to climb in out of the Truck.)

My route was running late that day. After we cleared my truck of all liability and parked it. I sent her a text message that went unanswered. Then, a phone call that went straight to voicemail. While sitting in my car, that’s when I saw the tow truck, and it was her Armored truck on the flatbed. In disbelief I waited for the tow truck to drop it in the back corner of the parking lot. That’s when my supervisor walked over to me, handed me some disposable gloves, and we spent 2 hours bleaching the entire rear of the Armored Truck. The insurance company refused to determine if the truck was totaled or not until all the blood was removed. I still have nightmares and I can’t seem to reconnect with her due to the event. Here is the pictures of what I think Reddit will allow.

The Truck was totaled. The driver survived, was fired, and she was airlifted to the closest hospital with multiple skull fractures, broken collar bones, broken ribs, wrist, and left arm. The only reason she didn’t die is because the entire crash was so abrupt, she had zero time to react. She was honorably discharged from the military, became one of our dispatchers, but soon quit and faded from existence. The Last I heard, she moved to a different state.

https://imgur.com/PsxqoZP

https://imgur.com/VsAlQgj

How the fuck would cleaning blood fall into your job desc? Let them hire a fucking forensic cleaning company. Fucks sake man.

Are used to work for an armored transport company also and I can tell you that they don’t really care about doing things the right way unless it comes to literally handling money.

“Did the money get delivered correctly?” Yes? Good!

Literally all the care about.

Not common but not rare either. The main cause is lack of visability, they have huge blind spots in the corners of all the windows. The A pillars in the windshields can be a foot across after the mounting brackets for the BR glass is installed.

I agree with the huge blind spots, but I mostly blame proper vetting for health problems.

Walk me through what would happen if someone steps out in front of the truck pointing an AR15 at the driver?

(I just realized you might not be able to answer that.)

We were trained for such event. The Threat will be eliminated.

Our rules of engagement are:

•Prove intent: he’s pointing a Ar-15 at my driver •Prove opportunity: he took the time to figure out the general time of when we show up. •Prove means: he’s literally holding an Ar-15 and ready to fire •Prove ability: His finger is on the trigger •Did my driver attempt to tell him to stop?: yes he honked.

Let’s assume worst case. The Ar-15(s) are loaded with black-tip ammunition. The front windshield will hold up the best due to the angle of the glass; my driver would have plenty time to run your A*S over. My driver was under strict directions to NEVER shift the transmission into park, foot on the break; nothing else.

My concern would be the lack of any angle on the driver and passenger side glass. If you land black tip ammunition directly on top of each other.... it’s going to go through, usually within 2-3 rounds. It honestly depends on the age of the glass from my personal testing.

This scenario is why I made safety glasses and body armor mandatory on my truck. Shards of glass will certainty be flying everywhere.

If we were engaged while the messenger and I were in the truck we would always attempt to flee. We are in a moving bank vault after.

If the driver is engaged while the messenger and I are inside a bank or other contracted establishment. The company policy is that the Armored Truck drives away, leaving the crew leader and messenger to defend themselves. Yes you heard right.... the truck drives away! Under this circumstance we were contractually bound to defend the client. Our standard operating procedure would be to evacuate all employees to cover, or concealment, and wait for Law Enforcement. (This area would’ve been established during the clients first day of service, during our risk assessment walk through.)

Finally, if the truck is engaged while we are walking out, we would move to cover and eliminate the threat. I really make all of this sound easy, it’s not. It’s scary as hell, but our faces wouldn’t show it.

A somewhat similar event happened to my truck in 2016. No shots were fired. All three us noticed that a sedan had been following us for 15 minutes. We contacted Local Law Enforcement. By the time we arrived at our next client. The Leo’s swarmed the sedan. The driver fled, he had a pistol. The front passenger had a 12 gauge shotgun ( grey hooded sweatshirt, cigarette in mouth.) I was able to take 1 picture of this event for my report to my Branch Manager.

https://imgur.com/Fi3Heb2

You’re going to die

Easy now. I’m not robbing your truck! Just kidding. Thanks for the extensive answer. Very interesting.

I really make all of this sound easy, It’s not.

Believe me. None of this sounds easy in my ears.

How is the pay?

How big is the risk? Is there a rough estimate on how big the risk is of being robbed?

If it’s like most security guard positions, the pay is dirt and the risk is high. My brother did armed security for a big corporation on third shift. It was him and one other person for the whole building. Several floors, several elevator bays, etc.

He made $11/ hour.

Armored is good experience to put on a resume. My husband made $13/ hour at Garda, but after that he got a job that paid $20/hour and most of what they asked about in the interview was his armored experience.

Jesus.

Minimum wage where I am from is $21 an hour.

Don't know how you could survive on 13 an hour

We would eat Raman, and drink PBR to survive.

Im currently at a 12 hour shift in a security shack making 13.96 an hout. Damn thats cheap ass labor.

No real risk here......basically if something hit the fan hard I call 911 and watch what unfolds. Im unarmed so I suppose I kiss my ass goodnight if someone did want to kill me but I'd have to be supremely unlucky considering the location im in is not sensitive.

Tbh when I worked unarmed security I still stayed armed. Got my concealed license and stayed strapped with a 9mm and knives. Figured that if my company found out then I could find another near minimum wage job. Wouldn't have a backup life to fall back on if someone came for me though.

I could never bring myself to do unarmed security. It wasn’t a “control over people thing.” It was “ I’d rather be the master of my own fate thing.”

Ankle holsters are awesome.😎

Yeah...its just like a 1% chance of anything nutty like that happening where I am. I probably have higher risks going to a mall or other public place then being a target here.

Yeah I got you. I worked overnight in the projects of a major metro area, typically solo in an area with tons of drunks, tweakers, and gang activity, so I stayed a bit more wary.

That reminds me of another armed security job I did part time. Funny enough, garda allowed me to use the same firearm at that job.

An armored truck is kinda like a security shack. It just moves! Damn right it was cheap ass labor! I certainly wasted most of my youth trying to meet my supervisors unreasonable and unobtainable expectations.

Stay safe though, even unarmed. You’re still a target. Very small, but still a target.

You took the words straight from my mouth.

I recently did an interview with Garda got hired. They told me how tough of a job it was, how strict it was. and were only paying $11.50/hr (Texas) I didn't return phone calls. I was making 13/hr just by sitting in a room looking at cameras and playing on my phone.

You made a good choice.

When I was hired in early 2013 the starting pay was $12.65 per hour, once promoted to Crew Leader it was $14.00

Great pay to protect a few thousand dollars of other people’s money, huh?🙃

Messengers being shot in the back of the head while loading cash into ATM is a common thing. Granted, your head needs to be on a swivel. If you allow someone to walk up on you like that.... that’s essentially you signing your own death certificate.

During my Training were taught the “ the red zones.” • The rear door while unloading coin • Any Atm Service, especially drive-up Atms •The main doorway entrance to the clients building. Both in and out.

keep driving, this is the exact same as for anyone else in any car.

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Car's aren't bullet proof... like at all. you can't "hide behind the door" to not get shot. Someone points an AR at you, assume they mean to kill you, and you will literally be protected under every state law related to self defense...

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ps: if its a stick that you think is an AR, you are probably fucked.

My level of concern sharply rises if we were to compare and contrast Ar-15s and Ar-10s. Those .308 NATO rounds are pretty spicy.

Here is an unpopular opinion, but was taught to us during our Security training:

The Supreme Court decision in Graham v. Connor and Tennessee vs Garner established the framework for what’s called the “ defense-of-life” standard.

If your stick is painted black, looks pretty damn close to a real Ar, and you’re using it the same manner as a real firearm. An officer will use the “Defense of life” standard to shoot you before determining if it was truly a real firearm. A prime example of this being used is when teenagers or young adults mishandle Airsoft or BB guns. The officer shoots them.

What kind of mileage do you get on those trucks?

Ha! My typical daily route varied from 65-87 miles per day. My truck was gasoline driven, and at the end of the day we refilled around 13-15 gallons. Around 4-5mpg? I’m certainly glad we weren’t driving them on our personal dimes. Glug, Glug, Glug.

Was always curious since my father’s gold mine was 300 miles away. Figure a 600 mile round trip would require two or three fills. On the way up, whatever, the way back I assume they’d have to be more careful if they can’t make it on a single tank.

They had a separate run since the other mine along the way started pouring more and it was too much gold for the truck’s insurance. The guys doing the run were retired former police officers. No nonsense.

That’s insane! All but one of our Trucks were insured up to $35Million dollars., the last I looked.The one truck that wasn’t, was insured beyond that. That’s a number I’d rather not advertise over the internet. But for people reading this. I couldn’t fit 35 million in cash in the truck I operated. No way in hell.

Retired police, no nonsense. Sounds like my kind of party.

Did you ever transport other things other than money? Maybe very precious jewelry could be worth that amount.

I know other companies like Loomis does. I personally haven’t.

Once it gets to a million KM, they are horrid to drive. And you can bet most of the trucks are around there

Edit: I realize you were probably talking about gas mileage; yeah that’s the least of our concerns. When we drive those things its at WOT at all times. How else would we reach the speed limit within the hour?

They’re horrible to drive even at 500,000 Km. “If the wheels turn, and the glass stops bullets, the truck is usable.”

I’ve heard this too many time. eyeroll

What's the pay and benefits like?

•401k sucks. No company matching • health insurance is an HSA plan. You pay the first $2200 out of pocket. Then they cover 80% • life insurance has an added clause stating that if you perish while performing duties and you weren’t following any company policy. Your family won’t be paid out. An example of this is would be: requesting a company issued bulletproof vest and being fatally shot not wearing it.

•The Dental Insurance was actually better than my new full time job

Terrible and nonexistent

For real? I guess it’s not a job that requires high qualifications, if we judge the AMA authors comments (saying you basically die if you get pulled over). If the pay was good I’m sure the waiting list would be FBI applicant level

Exactly. The turnaround on these jobs is incredibly high so they’re constantly looking for new employees. It’s not uncommon for new hires to last less than two weeks before quitting. The hours are terrible and your day can last anywhere from 3-14 hours depending on your route and how many stops you have.

The average route day at my branch was 10 hours

I know that Loomis starts new hires at less than $20/hour. They do offer a higher starting wage based on years in the military though. Just like banks, where the lowest paying jobs, tellers, are also the most dangerious.

Wow. Usps drivers make more in my area and they aren't risking their lives. Crazy

Pathetic, isn’t it?🙃

This is weird, but as a child, I was deeply afraid of the Garda trucks. I thought they were the Italian military (guard=garda) and they were taking over the United States. I didn't find out until high school what these trucks actually were. I have no idea why I thought that Italians were interested in taking over and I pretty much forgot about this fear until now!

...or maybe you are secretly an Italian that has been planning to take over the US for the last 25 years?

Back in 2014 we actually had to rebrand everything and change our uniforms because it resembled the Guarda police in Ireland.😂

italian hand We will take over

What if you literally are going to crap your pants. Can you run into a local starbucks and leave the truck undermanned? Or once you’re in, you’re in?

I operated a 3 man crew. 1 officer had to have direct control at all times. That was my truck rule, once you’re in, you’re in.

However, Our policy was updated shortly before I left to allow “solo” trucks. Trucks with a sh*t ton of cameras inside and out, as well as a mandatory panic button you wore around your neck.

Edit: “solo Trucks” being defined as a crew of one officer that drove and left the truck to collect money.

I used to fix atm’s and we went rounds with a banks filling service (major armored truck company) because they would piss in styrofoam cups and leave them in the atm kiosk.

I had a very love/hate relationship with Atms. Diebold and Talaris machines we’re alright, but those damn receipt printers always jammed up in subzero temperatures. * Meltdown ensues* ABM were gifts for the Atm gods. Their admin User interface would load faster than the screen could process. So, if you knew which buttons to press. You didn’t really need to look at the screen. You could look around and focus on Officer Safety.

Styrofoam cups huh? Haha! That reminds me of a funny story. My crew was drafted one day to drop off cash at The Federal Reserve. Another Armored company with maintenance standards lower than us were also there waiting. As I start chatting with their Crew Leader he mentions their “urinal.” It was a 3 inch hole in their floor, that had rusted out. Said Armored company had a 4-5 hour drive from their Vault to the Federal Reserve. So, while in transit. They would urinate into the hole. Adapt and overcome, right?

My husband had a co-worker who did shit his pants on route. He was the messenger, not the driver. It takes a bit longer to take off the gun belt so you can get your pants down, and his breakfast tacos didn't wait. He washed out his pants and undies in a bathroom sink and kept going. He made the mistake of telling co-workers and everyone made fun of him forever.

Some drivers would piss in a cup if the messenger was taking too long and they had to go.

Ive has my fair share of close calls too!! I wore 6 belt keepers. This situation is the only downside of that many!

But! Did you know that “5.11 xprt” pants. The female ones. ($250 per pair) has a zipper in the rear to allow urination without taking off your duty belt!?😱😂😂

Wish they had thought of that for us men!

With all the comments (didn't read em all) being said.....

Let's not forget the "bullet proof" windows ARE NOT bullet proof.

It'll stop the 1st shot.....but with a 7.62 and the like, it will penetrate it after a few shots.

Sucks to protect all of someone else's money and you MAKE NONE!!

This needs to be upvoted more.

I added more proof. My credentials and an up to date photo.

Did you get to carry any handgun you qualified on or did you have to use the shitty company guns?

Has the job become worse or better over the past few years?

How often did you have 3 man crews? I worked at Dunbar and you had to get lucky to get a 3rd person on your route because they didn't want to pay for it.

I was a dedicated 3 man route. I refused to jeopardize officer safety. It pissed them off, but I stood firm. Originally it was a 2 man crew, but due to a slew of new people totaling Armored Trucks, we I went through a reroute. I went from 56 stops per day to 91 per day, those extra stops included downtown clients. The downtown area has a population of 40,000. Its very dense, with a lot of skyways, tunnels, and skyscrapers.

Garda was issuing revolvers for the longest time. They sold them 1 year before I was hired. We qualified with our own personal firearms.

Why did you leave the industry?

This says it all. Some information have been redacted to protect my name and state of which I live.

Darn, people Know my name now. I’ll learn to redact better.🤣 I’m glad I’m not still in the industry.

So how could you theoretically loot one? Would the "Heat" strategy hold up. Any advances in outside tech to help get in, like maybe some mobile plasma cutter set up? Thermite?

Soooooooooooooo Armored Truck Door locks fail Waaay more often than reported. When the lock fails and your on a desolate highways traveling at 65mph. Just kick a bag worth $250,000 of Atm replenish money out.

Then blame a mechanical door failure and report that you couldn’t shoot the person who Took the bag of cash because they weren’t being actively aggressive to you. Wah-la. You just bought yourself A new house.

What's up with the Grindr selfie?

Why, you like?

Private security supervisor here. From what i've heard, armored is basically the absolute worst in our "world." Insane and inconsistent hours, ridiculous qualifications needed (in my state in the USA, you take the same courses/quals as police officers for armed-guard jobs,) and low pay considering all involved.

Would you consider my assessment of armored work accurate?

You sir, have done your homework. Something you may not know is how our hours work. Garda corporate has determined that any crew operating an Armored Truck over 9000 would be classified as a “ Truck Driver.” Therefore, our overtime started at 50 hours! It was a way for corporate to cut corners on their budget. What was the most sad was that all of the class action lawsuits filled against Garda were dragged out and settled for pennies and n the dollar.

What’s your favorite story from your experience?

Holy Sh*t! I’ve actually been looking for this question all day. I saw it was one of earlier question. Here it goes!

While my messenger was unloading coin boxes, We were was attacked by a gaggle of turkey. The bank branch manager was nearly rolling on the floor as we walked in. I wish I have that security footage. That would’ve gone viral.

I've always wanted to know how close I came to dying!!!

So, I worked for an appliance company that had about 20 delivery trucks on the road every day. I received the trucks at the end of the route. Despite credit cards existing, we'd collect tens of thousands in cash every day. During peak season (end of June), they would double the weekly pickups because the massive safe was too full.

The process was that we would leave our little cage/room, and the Garda guys would open safe and collect. One guy stayed in the truck, one guy waited by the door outside and the other guy went inside.

The building's exit had a double door. I was very used to guy waiting outside. However, on this occassion, he was between the doors. Without knowing he was there, I kicked the door open and it nailed him. He swung around and pointed a shotgun at me, before realising I wasn't a threat and he backed off. I was extremely apologetic and had just shat myself.

So, how close did I come to getting dying? I laugh about it now, but who knows?!?

You probably flirted with the grim reaper a little bit. I miss the days that we were able to carry shotguns. It certainly made the job more safe. One of the biggest things drilled into our head ( at least my garda teacher) was to constantly assess the situation. I’m actually surprised you were able to startle him.

Thanks for sharing that story!

Why tf do y’all insist on paying such meager wages to employees did such a dangerous job?

Because no one has the balls to start a union.

Were you ever tempted? If not tempted was there ever a 'this is how I'd do it' banter with your crew?

Haha! Yes. Typically if a bank order a Sustainable amount of high value bills. I would turn and ask my messenger if “today was the day” for a trip to Mexico.😂

Excellent timing. I am a co-founder of a special events security company, and this question came up in our meeting this weekend:

For legal cannabis operations, do they utilize Armored Truck service to transport their product(s) from distribution centers to retail stores?

We have been thinking of entering the cannabis space, and wondered about this specific question. Thanks!

Medical marijuana is a commodity. I wouldn’t see a problem with it being transported. BUT only when it’s federally legal for recreational purposes. There may be some legal issues with the quantity and if it’s being transported with armed security.

Is it true your coworkers are more likely to shoot you than a random robber?

I’ve been told that 9/10 times it Will be an inside job.