FMCSA places 2 Kansas carriers OOS for safety violations

The FMCSA said the basis for determining that the two motor carrier operations pose an imminent hazard to the public is that HP Distribution and HP Distribution currently permit or require drivers who operate commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce to violate the FMCSA Hours of Service regulations by flagrantly falsifying their record-of-duty status.

The Trucker News Services

9/14/2012

WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Friday ordered Kansas-based commercial truck company HP Distribution LLP and an affiliated company, HP Distribution LLC, to immediately cease all transportation services based on serious safety violations that posed an imminent hazard to public safety.

FMCSA shut down HP Distribution LLP following a thorough review of the company’s operations that uncovered extensive drivers' Hours of Service violations.

The FMCSA said the basis for determining that the two motor carrier operations pose an imminent hazard to the public is that HP Distribution and HP Distribution currently permit or require drivers who operate commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce to violate the FMCSA Hours of Service regulations by flagrantly falsifying their record-of-duty status.

“You are fully aware of driver violations through your own log checking reports but have taken no discernible steps to stop driver behavior,” the FMCSA told the two carriers in the order. “The evidence demonstrates that you refuse to comply with the Hours of Service regulations and refuse to require drivers to do the same. As a consequence, you dispatch drivers to the highways in a potentially fatigued or excessively fatigued condition and without regard for their or the public's safety. Your actions substantially increase the likelihood of serious injury or death to drivers who operate commercial motor vehicles for HP Distribution LLP and HP Distribution LLC and to the motoring public.”

FMCSA records show that HP Distribution LLP has three BASIC scores above the intervention threshold — Unsafe Driving at 72 percent, Fatigued Driving (Hours of Service) at 87.4 percent and Vehicle Maintenance at 80.2 percent.

The records also show that in the past 24 months, HP Distribution LLP has incurred 100 Fatigued Driving violations, including 31 for driver’s record-of-duty status not current and 26 for general log violations.

Twenty six of those violations have resulted in out-of-service orders against the driver.

Friday, the FMCSA immediately placed HP Distribution, its vehicles and drivers out-of-service after agency investigators found a range of serious safety violations. For example, investigators discovered that the company knowingly permitted its drivers to falsify the number of hours they operated the vehicle in an attempt to conceal HOS violations. Additionally, HP Distribution dispatched potentially fatigued drivers on interstate trips without regard for the safety of the drivers or the traveling public.

“This case sends a clear message that we will use every tool at our disposal to identify and remove unsafe truck and bus companies from our roads,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “Our agency is committed to raising the bar for commercial vehicle and driver safety.”