# The uselessness of armored trucks in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uselessness-of-armored-trucks-in-movies/830448 "2019-03-02T22:30:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uselessness-of-armored-trucks-in-movies/830448/41 "2019-03-28T19:54:16Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Really? A 2-seater? So just the driver and the terrorist? > > Why not take a Mercedes and put a couple of guys in the back? No backup and few vehicles would draw more attention and turn heads. I’d recommend a postal service van or utility truck. I’ll bet the friend just wanted to drive the Ferrari. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uselessness-of-armored-trucks-in-movies/830448/42 "2019-03-31T20:56:04Z")
The truck I drove weighed @20,000 pounds fueled. It was very close to 20k empty weight at had two 60-gallon fuel tanks. The ‘armor’ was about 1/4" thick metal in most places. It would probably stop a pistol round but a rifle round would go right through that. The glass was ‘bullet resistant’, meaning it might deflect a pistol bullet from the right angle, but anything more was going through. Honestly, if someone had started shooting at me, I’d have punched the gas and depended on the size and weight of the truck to be able to plow through anything in my way to get the hell out of there. Again, deterrence, not invulnerability. And the fact that over 90% of armored truck robberies are inside jobs. MS-13 and the Crips aren’t out there knocking off armored trucks for money. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uselessness-of-armored-trucks-in-movies/830448/43 "2019-04-03T06:20:59Z")
Double post. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uselessness-of-armored-trucks-in-movies/830448/44 "2019-04-03T06:23:10Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Really? A 2-seater? So just the driver and the terrorist? > > Why not take a Mercedes and put a couple of guys in the back? There are four seater Ferrari’s. It was a four seater. ([A Brief History of the Four-Seat Ferrari](https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/g6602/ferrari-four-seat-history-list/)) It was from what he told me the terrorist and three officers. Terrorist was in the back with one officer. > [@jnglmassiv](#): > > No backup and few vehicles would draw more attention and turn heads. I’d recommend a postal service van or utility truck. > > I’ll bet the friend just wanted to drive the Ferrari. That was the point I think. It would draw attention. But anyone looking for a rescue attempt would not be looking for that. And yes I am sure the Ferrari drive was a plus. > [@JoseB](#): > > Reminds me of how the “Cullinan” diamond was transported from South Africa to the UK to be cut into several of the Crown Jewels: Very publicly, the “Cullinan” was locked in the captain’s safe of a ship that took it under armoured guard to the UK. In fact, that stone was fake, and the real “Cullinan” was sent in a totally plain box via registered post. I know that. I have often wondered if that’s where he got the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uselessness-of-armored-trucks-in-movies/830448/45 "2019-04-03T11:20:51Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Ha. I just imagined the current president being kidnapped for money…and suddenly its an O. Henry story. The Ransom of Orange Thief, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uselessness-of-armored-trucks-in-movies/830448/46 "2019-04-03T15:29:45Z")
Here’s a list of armoured car robberies in Quebec [Montreal armoured truck robberies from the past | CTV News](https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montreal-armoured-truck-robberies-from-the-past-1.1972073) ---
**Author:** ![BlakeTyner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@BlakeTyner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlakeTyner)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uselessness-of-armored-trucks-in-movies/830448/47 "2019-04-03T20:04:14Z")
An armored truck performing exactly as designed is basically the climax of _Dead Presidents_, which, if you haven’t seen it, you should. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2019, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uselessness-of-armored-trucks-in-movies/830448/48 "2019-04-04T00:16:50Z")
The finale of the Chuck Norris led action film “Invasion USA” has a terrorist group stealing dozens of armored vans from a armored car company in order to break through the police and National Guard barricades to assault a convention center where the US President is giving a speech to all 50 State Governors. The armored cars are able to break through the barricades with little trouble despite the various M16 and M60 machine guns sprayed into them by the National Guardsmen which is unrealistic as I don’t think they would be rated for full sized machine gun rounds. Of course they may have simply been putting up a fake defense since Chuck Norris’s plan for the terrorist group was to bait them with fake info on a juicy target, so they all wind up inside the convention center with nobody there and about 10,000 National Guard soldiers surrounding them. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2019, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uselessness-of-armored-trucks-in-movies/830448/49 "2019-04-04T13:23:53Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Having done that job… Yeah, about a month ago I was looking around at jobs I could try after I retire. Saw an ad for Armored vehicle support staff (guy in the passenger seat?). My first reaction was “With all the times those things get blown open? Forget it.” ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uselessness-of-armored-trucks-in-movies/830448/50 "2019-04-04T19:40:24Z")
Well, you have to be in pretty decent shape. I couldn’t do it again now if I needed to. You’re going to walk a couple of miles a day getting out of the truck and walking into businesses and back. In the physical, I had to lift a 55 pound bucket over my head with my left hand and place it on a high shelf. Why? Because you have to carry the money in your off-hand to leave your weapon hand free. You load and unload the truck at the beginning and end of your shift and that can include hundreds of pounds of coins going to various banks. You have to be alert all the time. I worked a downtown route. I had to walk large sums of obvious cash through government buildings and down crowded streets. Such as walking a hand truck loaded with $110,000 in bills through a farmers market. In D&D terms, I earned a Skill Focus (Perception) feat. And you have to be able to deal with stupid people who think its funny (or maybe that it might work) to make, or pretend to make a grab for it, without sticking your gun in their face or getting too distracted. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uselessness-of-armored-trucks-in-movies/830448/51 "2019-04-05T03:16:22Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > Have you ever seen a prisoner transport in movies or tv that went off smoothly or successfully? Seems to me that they are always attacked, the guards killed, and the prisoner sprung. No way in hell would I volunteer for transport duty. Well, this is like the “Why are there always objections raised during weddings in movies?” A prisoner transport that goes uneventfully wouldn’t be movie-worthy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-uselessness-of-armored-trucks-in-movies/830448.md?page=2)