Today, the FMCSA announced the 53rd passenger carrier to be placed out-of-service this year.
Los Angeles-based passenger carrier John Andrew Ciego, DBA “It’s Good Promotion,” has been ordered to immediately cease operations after the FMCSA found the company was “endangering the traveling public by failing to ensure the safety of its vehicles and drivers.”
On December 1, 2013, a “Its Good Promotion” bus was stopped for an inspection at the Otay Mesa, California Port of Entry. During the inspection, investigators found 17 serious safety defects, 14 of which were grounds for the vehicle being immediately placed OOS.
Furthermore, investigators found that the company was operating in violation of a November 15, 2013, OOS order from the FMCSA and that earlier in the day, the bus had been refused entry by U.S. Customs and Border agents because of the order.
In addition, the inspection revealed that the carrier illegally allowed four 4 other unsafe bus companies to do business as “Its Good Promotion.”
“Employing innovative investigative techniques developed under the recent Operation Quick Strike crackdown, FMCSA investigators on Dec. 2, 2013, launched an intensified investigation of ‘Its Good Promotion” and found that the company name and its USDOT number were being used by multiple motor carriers and commercial motor vehicle owners as a ‘shell cover name’ to transport passengers between Mexico and the U.S. The four motor carriers that were attempting to appear as part of “Its Good Promotion” had been previously ordered by FMCSA to cease operations because of serious safety violations,” the FMCSA stated.
According to the FMCSA, investigators found serious and widespread violations of multiple federal safety regulations, including:
- Failure to monitor and ensure that drivers comply with controlled substances and alcohol use testing regulations;
- Allowing a driver who tested positive for illegal drugs to continue transporting passengers;
- Using drivers that did not possess valid U.S. commercial driver’s licenses or were not medically qualified to operate buses;
- Not requiring drivers to turn in hours-of-service records and other required documentation such as driving itineraries or fuel receipts; and
- Failure to ensure vehicles were properly and regularly inspected, repaired and maintained.
“Rogue bus operations that compromise public safety are being shut down in California and nationwide,” said Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “We encourage anyone with a complaint, information or evidence that a bus company is endangering passengers or breaking the law to contact FMCSA by calling 1-888-DOT-SAFT [1-888-368-7238] or making a report with our National Consumer Complaint Database at http://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov.”