The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) ordered Texas-based Denny Mekenye, doing business as Demco Express and/or Demco Trans Inc., to immediately cease all transportation services based on serious safety violations that the agency said poses an imminent hazard to public safety.
FMCSA shut down Demco following an extensive review of the company’s operations that uncovered multiple federal safety violations in the areas of drivers’ hours-of-service compliance, driver qualifications and drug testing requirements.
FMCSA immediately put Demco and its vehicles out of service after safety investigators found a range of safety infractions that substantially increased the likelihood of serious injury to the traveling public, according to the shut down order.
Investigators discovered that the company falsified drivers’ records of duty status, allowed its drivers to operate with commercial driver’s licenses that had been suspended, revoked, or disqualified and did not conduct proper controlled substances testing of its drivers. In addition, within the last 12 months, 10 of Demco’s drivers have been placed out of service for not being licensed to drive.
The FMCSA Safety Measurement System (SMS) also indicated that Demco exceeds by a significant margin the intervention thresholds in five of the seven BASICs.
“In fact, at the time of this investigation,” the shut down order states, “one Demco driver was driving with at least four active suspensions on his license. Indeed, Demco’s Driver Fitness BASIC score of 99.8% exceeds the established BASIC threshold and is alarmingly high. Demco’s BASIC scores in Unsafe Driving (97.1 %), Fatigued Driving (99.4%), Drugs and Alcohol (81.2% ), and Vehicle Maintenance (97 .1%) also exceed the established BASIC threshold and reflect its dismal safety performance. As for Drugs and Alcohol, Demco’s BASIC scores are alarmingly high at 81.2% for April, 86.5% for March, 90.1% for February, and 92.1% for January, 2012. Demco’s continued and blatant disregard for the FMCSR establishes an imminently hazardous and potentially deadly risk for its drivers and the motor public.”
“We will not let trucking companies that put motorists at risk operate on our nation's roadways. Safety must come first,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
“FMCSA is raising the bar to stay in the trucking and bus industry,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “Safety cannot be compromised. Adhere to the safety regulations, or you will be shut down.”
A copy of the imminent hazard out-of-service order can be viewed at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/about/news/2012/demco-ih.pdf.
