Stolen truck computers: FOX 26 on the CPC module thefts hitting Houston's 18-wheelers
A report on thieves pulling controller units out of Freightliner trucks turned a quiet comment section into a truck stop full of drivers' memories.
FOX 26 HoustonStory of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 236,279 views a day, 173 times a normal first day on this channel (1,365).
Valuable parts being stolen from 18-wheelers
What is worth stealing from a parked 18-wheeler? In this FOX 26 Houston report, it is not the cargo but a computer: the CPC module, the powertrain controller inside Freightliner trucks. The description sets the thefts against rising diesel prices, a double squeeze on drivers' livelihoods, and follows one Houston dealer that is fighting back. The tags name Lawrence Truck and Trailer Sales and reporter Jillian Hartman.
The station's videos usually close their first day with a little over a thousand views. This one passed a quarter of a million in about a day, and the comments came in roughly a hundred times faster than usual. It shared the day with a forecast from meteorologist Remeisha Shade, as a stalled front kept rain and storms over Houston through the weekend, and that video also ran far past the station's usual start.
The comment section reads like drivers comparing notes at a fuel stop. A comparison to a VHS tape in the report has viewers joking about how many people watching have never held one. A fifty-dollar figure sets off an argument, with some insisting the modules are worth far more. Others point at what dealers charge for parts and what it costs to replace the wiring. And the veterans trade stories: company trucks that all opened with the same key, radios that used to be what thieves went for, and the old mechanical rigs that had no computer to steal at all.
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What viewers say
that VHS tape comparison is spot on, but honey, i bet 20% of watchers here have never seen a vhs tape lol.
@snypa-ck7hnSee it on YouTubeI remember when all our company trucks used the same key! They didn't tell the drivers either. You lock your truck with all your stuff inside and a million dollar load in the trailer, but everybody else had the same key!
@JacksJournaleSee it on YouTubeWow , i'm surprised to take the radio too. Those used to be hot items back in the day.
@jimmy031408See it on YouTube
Public comments from the video's page on YouTube
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- Channel
- FOX 26 Houston
- Subscribers
- 739,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 1,014,771
- Channel views, pace per day
- 63,939 (on a normal day: 144,302)
- Video published
- October 3, 2026
- Video views so far
- 277,382 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 277,046
The numbers
A local trucking story, and a first day far beyond anything this news channel usually sees.
💡 Test your knowledge
Kenworth and Peterbilt, two other big American truck brands, are both owned by which company?
PACCAR, based in Washington state, owns both Kenworth and Peterbilt, while Daimler Truck owns Freightliner.
