The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has ordered U & D Service, Inc. of Indianapolis, Indiana, to immediately cease all transportation operations involving interstate commerce, declaring the commercial truck company an “imminent hazard” to public safety.

The regulatory agency said that in conducting an extensive review of the Indiana trucking firm’s operations, it uncovered multiple violations of federal transportation safety rules, “including a continuous pattern of using drivers without valid commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) and using drivers that do not meet federal English proficiency requirements” for commercial drivers.

Using drivers who don’t possess the proper truck driving training and other qualifications, and who don’t understand English well enough to safely operate a commercial truck on U.S. highways is a disaster waiting to happen.

In addition to ordering U & D Service to shut down immediately, the FMCSA said it may also take enforcement action against the drivers, including civil penalties and driver disqualification, for driving commercial vehicles without a CDL.

According to the FMCSA, Indiana State Police inspected U & D Service’s commercial vehicles 26 times from November 3, 2011, through January 27, 2012. Those inspections resulted in U & D drivers being cited 12 times for not possessing a CDL; 10 times for exceeding vehicle weight limits; 8 times for exceeding tire weight limits; and 21 times for English-language proficiency violations. U & D employed 40 drivers and owned about as many trucks.

“Safety is the U.S. Department of Transportation’s highest priority,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. “We are committed to aggressively removing from our roads unsafe truck companies that place the traveling public at risk.”

FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro said the agency “will continue to do everything within its current legal authority to remove unsafe truck companies like U & D Service from our roadways. The traveling public deserves no less.”
Reactions within the trucking industry mostly praised the FMCSA for shutting the company down.

“Maybe some trucking companies shouldn’t be in business — like the ones that don’t think drivers need CDLs, or that truck weight limits are just suggestions,” The Trucker news said on its Facebook page. “Can we give FMCSA some credit for going after carriers like this one?” The Trucker said.

Source:

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

The Trucker

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