FMCSA orders truck driver off the road following DUI crash that killed four in Tennessee

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has declared a truck driver to be an imminent hazard to public safety following a multiple fatality crash in Tennessee last month.

On April 14, 2023, New York-based truck driver Saul Aquiles Carrera, 60, was served a federal order requiring him to immediately cease all interstate and intrastate operations.

The out of service order was issued following a crash that occurred on March 26, 2023, on I-81 in Kingsport, Tennessee.

The crash occurred as several of the occupants of a 2017 Chevrolet Express van were on the shoulder of the interstate attempting to repair a flat tire.

The FMCSA says that Carrera crashed into the disabled vehicle, killing four people and injuring one other person.

Carrera has been charged in the state of Tennessee with four counts of Vehicular Homicide by Intoxication, Driving Under the Influence, Reckless Aggravated Assault, Reckless Endangerment, and Failing to Exercise Due Care.

“Subsequent testing showed Carrera had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.16, well over the .04 threshold for a CMV driver.  Additionally, empty beer cans were found in and around the cab of Carrera’s CMV.  Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, drivers with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) are subject to a variety of prohibitions on use of alcohol prior to and while driving CMVs, including a prohibition on using any alcohol within four hours of driving and a prohibition on driving with an alcohol concentration of .04 or greater,” the FMCSA said.

In addition to the out of service order, Carrera will be listed as “prohibited” in the FMCSA’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. The agency says that it is working with New York officials to disqualify Carrera’s CDL.