6.6 C
New York

Tennessee Chameleon Carrier Shut Down

Published:

Tennessee Trucking Company Shut Down The FMCSA has announced they have placed a Tennessee chameleon horse transporter out of service.

“Terri’s Farm has been told by the FMCSA to immediately cease all interstate transportation services.  Following an investigation of the carrier, the Tennessee Department of Safety recognized that Terri’s Farms was operating the same vehicles and maintaining the operational and safety management structure as the former horse transporter Three Angels Farms,” the FMCSA stated in a press release.

The original company– Three Angels Farms– came under investigation after two accidents occurred in a six-month time period, resulting in the death of 4 horses.

“On June 29, 2012, FMCSA ordered Three Angels Farms, its officers and vehicles out of service after safety investigators found multiple safety infractions that substantially increased the likelihood of serious injury to the traveling public. Among the findings, investigators discovered that the company permitted its drivers to operate commercial motor vehicles without commercial driver’s licenses and did not conduct proper controlled substances testing of its drivers. Additionally, during the past eight months, the former Three Angels Farms had two accidents involving poorly maintained vehicles and fatigued or disqualified drivers, which resulted in the deaths of four horses,” the FMCSA stated.

On January 17, 2012, a Three Angels Farms driver fell asleep behind the wheel, veered to the right side of the road and lost control, causing the trailer to overturn.  The trailer was carrying 38 horses, 3 died.
Following the accident, the driver reported that he had been working at the farm all night and had only had a 30 minute break in a 24-hour time period.

The second accident occurred on June 12, 2012, when a Three Angels Farms vehicle, that was operated by a driver with a suspended CDL, wrecked on 1-40 West.  The trailer was carrying 36 horses, 1 had to be euthanized.

The owner of Three Angels Farms wasted no time in changing the company’s name to Terri’s Farms and resuming business as normal.

On July 20, 2012, a Terri’s Farms driver was cited for operating a defective vehicle and failure to maintain a logbook.

On July 27, 2012, the Tennessee Department of  Safety placed a Terri’s Farms driver out of service, because the vehicle had defective brakes and the driver had been driving for over 70 hours, violating HOS regulations.

Both drivers were operating vehicles that were previously included in the original Three Angels Farms out-of-service order.

Should the company’s owners continue to operate, they will face a $16,000 per day fine.

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER

Get the hottest daily trucking news

This Week in Trucking

Videos