According to a statement from the FMCSA, the agency has declared a South Carolina carrier to be “an imminent hazard to public safety.”
The FMCSA has ordered Carnell Pompey, doing business as Mortise Trucking Company, to immediately cease all intrastate and interstate operations.
In March, the FMCSA began investigating Mortise Trucking. During the investigation, FMCSA investigators discovered “numerous serious violations” including failure to inspect, repair and maintain its CMVs; failure to conduct random drug and alcohol testing; failure to comply with HOS laws.
Over the past 12 months, six of Mortise Trucking’s trucks were placed out-of-service following roadside inspections due to “inadequate brakes, brake system pressure loss, oil-contaminated brake and steering components and worn tires.”
The FMCSA had ordered Mortise Trucking to immediately cease all CMV operations, “including all interstate and intrastate transportation, from all dispatching locations or terminals.”
In addition to the OOS order, the FMCSA has revoked the carrier’s operating authority and suspended its USDOT number.
“Any vehicle, especially a large commercial combination vehicle such as a truck and trailer, that is not maintained or repaired and allowed to become a serious public hazard, is absolutely unacceptable,” said FMCSA Chief Counsel Scott Darling. “FMCSA’s safety regulations exist to protect everyone. Compliance is not optional. If a motor carrier does not adhere to the safety regulations, we will see that it does not operate.”
A copy of the imminent hazard out-of-service order is available at www.fmcsa.dot.gov/newsroom/Mortise-Trucking-IHOOS.