This week the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) ordered Alabama-based BM&L Trucking, LLC, affiliated company IDM Transportation, Inc. and its owners to immediately cease all transportation services based on serious safety violations that posed an imminent hazard to public safety.
FMCSA took this action after its extensive review of BM&L Trucking’s operations found multiple federal safety violations in the areas of hours-of-service compliance, driver qualifications and vehicle maintenance:
- No pre-employment drug screenings of its drivers;
- Operation of vehicles with serious mechanical defects;
- Vehicles not regularly inspected and repaired;
- Failure to monitor and ensure that its drivers comply with drivers’ hours of service requirements; and
- Failure to monitor and ensure that its drivers comply with drivers’ qualification requirements.
These safety violations increased the likelihood of serious injury to others on the road, and unsafe trucks could also cause serious injury to the company’s truck drivers.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood stated:
“When commercial truck companies and their drivers disregard the safety rules of the road, they place all motorists at risk. We will continue to exhaust every available tool to identify and swiftly shut down unsafe truck companies.”
Traffic safety should be a top priority for every trucking company and commercial truck driver on the road.