FMCSA Puts the Squeeze on Reincarnated Trucking Companies

Carriers who have been put out-of-service and open-up again under a different name are in the FMCSA’s line of fire.

Last week, the “FMCSA posted a final rule that changes its procedures in several areas affecting truck lines, intermodal equipment providers, brokers, freight forwards and hazmat proceedings,” Truckinginfo.com reported.

The biggest change, is that carriers who have been put out-of-service, who pay a full civil penalty, are not given the ability to avoid an admission of liability.  The regulation states that the civil penalty payment is, in fact, an admission of all the facts in the claim; an admission of guilt, unless the entity and the agency agree otherwise.

Carriers who have been ordered out-of-service and who have reopened under another name will be under review. The FMCSA will consolidate the records of the reincarnated entities with their predecessor’s records.

The FMCSA said that out-of-service carriers with an abundance of financial resources could afford to repeatedly violate the rules by simply paying the fine. The new legislation hopes to combat this practice.