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A new book by author Frank Figliuzzi is triggering a whole new level of paranoia among fans of crime stories, and motorists, with the claim that long-haul trucking is the number one profession of serial killers.

Describing it as “part of a wider sociological phenomenon hiding in plain sight”, the book Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers, makes for uncomfortable, but fascinating reading.

Figliuzzi, who is a former assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), wrote the book after learning of at least 850 murders along America’s highways over the past few decades. More than 200 of these cases remain active and unsolved, despite the FBI having a list of about 450 suspects.

The crisis was so shocking that the FBI opened a special unit, the Highway Serial Killings (HSK) Initiative. But Figliuzzi, his old investigative instincts kicking in, wanted to know more.

“What intrigued me is all of these subcultures literally are under our nose,” the 61-year-old says. “We drive on our highways every day. These trucks are right alongside us”.

“We have this American mystique about the long-haul trucker. They’re kind of lone operators out there, very isolated, but for many people, they’re a mystery.”

Figliuzzi rode in a truck for more than 3,000 kilometres to understand the subculture from the inside. He slept in the top bunk in the sleeper berth and sometimes cooked meals inside the cab – which he happened to share with a trucker who was an accomplished chef but quit that work because driving was more lucrative.

“I came away impressed with the modern-day trucker,” Figliuzzi says. “If this young man, 26 years old, is the future of trucking, we’re in good shape: he was bright, hardworking, had social skills – he spent much of his time in the truck chatting on his headset with friends and co-workers. That’s a good thing and I dedicate my book in part to the stalwart American trucker. I’m quite careful to point out that we’re talking here a tiny fraction of long-haul truckers that give other truckers a bad name.”

But as Figliuzzi notes in his book, it is mentally and physically taxing work, often tedious and solitary, and can take a toll on the driver’s mental health.

“There’s little or no human engagement, depending on the type of trucking you’re doing.”

This isolation led him to ask the obvious question: Does the occupation of long-haul trucking attract sociopaths, or does the toll of the job aggravate sociopathic tendencies?

“A certain type of personality might be attracted to long-haul trucking because of their personality since it is isolated and they’re perfectly fine with that and the lack of engagement with others.”

“Does it present to them an opportunity to commit crimes, even murders, largely undetected and be on their way before anyone has figured anything out? Yes.”

His book is not only about trucking but also the subculture of sex trafficking, research that took him to two experts: Celia Williamson of the University of Toledo and Dominique Roe-Sepowitz of Arizona State University. “These two professors taught me what to look for in terms of commonalities in the backgrounds and lives of trafficking victims.”

Figliuzzi interviewed several women who had survived violent encounters with truckers and found commonalities regardless of their backgrounds.

Just as it would be wrong to assume that all truckers fit a single demographic profile, the victims of trafficking do not fit stereotypes around class and privilege either.

“I threw out my biases and preconceptions here because many folks believe, ‘I don’t know any young lady in my circle of contacts, family, friends who is in danger of falling into the trafficking trap. It’s not going to happen here.’ I’m telling you that’s wrong and I was corrected in my research.”

Among the terrifying stories is that of Robert Ben Rhoades, known as the “Truck Stop Killer.” Rhoades was a long-haul trucker who built a torture chamber in the rear of his semi and over at least 15 years kidnapped, tortured, raped and killed as many as 50 suspected victims before being caught and jailed.

Having diagnosed the problem in his book, the author does offer solutions such as that trucking companies should improve their vetting of drivers, offer them more downtime and close loopholes that make it easy to fake the annual physical exam. He advocates making tracking devices mandatory in all trucks, including those operated by smaller companies.

Anyone driving between Joburg and Cape Town on the N1 will likely pass hundreds of trucks along the way, so if you want to add to the paranoia of a long-distance trip, you can find Figliuzzi’s book here.

It’s not light bedtime reading, so be warned.

[source:guardian]