Federal Regulators Close Steak-Hauling Trucker

[OntarioVanMan]

another one bits the dust...
Federal Regulators Close Steak-Hauling Trucker | Journal of Commerce
According to data on the FMCSA’s Web site, the 62-truck carrier had been involved in 12 tow-away accidents since 2010, seven of which involved injuries.

In 2009, HP Distribution received a conditional safety rating and was fined $63,000 after FMCSA investigators uncovered a 34 percent driver log violation rate.

A third compliance review was launched Aug. 8. Reviewing company records for eight drivers, the FMCSA found seven of them falsified 25 percent of their logs.

The agency expanded the investigation and determined 72 percent of the drivers whom a special agent audited falsified their logbooks at least 10 percent of the time.

The company was “fully aware” of the violations, the FMCSA said, having installed GPS tracking equipment and log management software after the 2009 review.

The company promised to reform at that time, but “the violations continue unabated,” the FMCSA said.

HP had CSA scores above thresholds in four categories: 87.4 in Fatigued Driving, 72 in Unsafe Driving and 80.2 in Vehicle Maintenance as of Aug. 24, and a Crash Indicator score, mentioned in the out-of-service order, of 82.8.

 

[purgoose10]

I don't know what's going on with SC (I live here) but the I-20 scales west of Columbia on both sides have been huming with inspectors. West bound today had 12 inspector cars and east bound had 4. I did'nt know my state even had that many. Every one of those guys were inspecting trucks. Scales were closed because there were so many being inspected. SC isn't usually that tough.

 

[paullud]

I wish we had the full details with articles like these. My first question would be if those accidents were the fault of the driver or were the accidents charged under the flawed system. Then it would be nice to see the breakdown of the log violations to determine if they were actual safety issues or just paperwork. It seems like there were some considerable issues with this company which makes me think the companies are a bigger part of the issue and not the drivers in general. The drivers are ultimately responsible for HOS but the company may pressure and create an environment where it is acceptable.

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[OntarioVanMan]

IMO..Paul...doesn't matter how it breaks down.....it is big brothers rules....whether the company and drivers are responsible....they could not even bother to comply...by the looks of it...you'd think a 62 unit carrier would be bending over backwards.....

 

[paullud]

IMO..Paul...doesn't matter how it breaks down.....it is big brothers rules....whether the company and drivers are responsible....they could not even bother to comply...by the looks of it...you'd think a 62 unit carrier would be bending over backwards.....

It seems like they would be able to control 62 drivers but clearly they didn't want to otherwise they would've been down a few drivers to make a point. I just wonder in cases like this if it is truly safety related or did all these people lose their job because of the flawed CSA accident score and because of paperwork. For all we know they weren't at fault for one of those accidents or they could've been at fault for all of them. As you said though we are in an industry where big brother sets the rules and we have to follow them.

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[moose]

Oh, Paul the system is flawed way beyond what you describe.
as you mention, under the current system there's no way of knowing IF there was ANY safety issues with that carrier what so ever.
the BASIC dose not show safety break downs, just a vague compliance scores.
but it's gets worst, the agency shutting them down, sending 62 family's into the welfare program, is the same agency making the rules . letting the cat watch the milk cup.
there's no over-site, and the FMCSA is not accountable for nothing, they do not needs to follow their own rules, or in this case have no steak in the game, nor they need to make any actual safety #'s public.
also the agency have made the GPS mistake before, and continue to do so, what they do is allowing carriers to install a 'half E-log', just a GPS recorder, so they can later on match GPS records with paper logs. this is setting up the carrier to fail. there's no way to match a GPS recorder to a paper log. this CAN be the ONLY rezone for the OOS order.
what i do find amusing is that accidents cleanup personals, trying to separate body parts from stakes...