The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) ordered Wisconsin-based truck company WTSA US Express to immediately cease all transportation services based on serious safety violations that posed an imminent hazard to public safety.
FMCSA investigators found the carrier in violation of multiple federal safety standards, uncovered that the company employed drivers without valid commercial driver’s licenses and medical certificates, and the company allowed its drivers to operate without records of duty status. Additionally, WTSA US Express did not test its drivers for controlled substances.
“WTSA’s negligent oversight of its drivers results in drivers operating commercial motor vehicles at a time when they may be fatigued because of driving in excess of the maximum driving time, driving after the maximum on-duty time, and/or other HOS regulations,” the shutdown order states.
WTSA openly defied two state-issued out-of-service orders and permitted a driver — Adrian Wrzesniewski — to continue operating commercial motor vehicles despite being placed out of service and ordered to cease operating his vehicle after he was cited for transporting alcohol in the cab of his vehicle and for consuming alcohol within 4 hours before operating a truck, the order said.
WTSA also defied five out-of-service orders and allowed both Tadeusz Wrzesniewski and Adrian Wrzesniewski to continuing operating commercial motor vehicles with commercial driver’s licenses that were previously revoked, or disqualified, the agency said.
The safety agency also found that WTSA fails to monitor drivers’ compliance with vehicle roadside inspections and the orders of state law enforcement personnel to cease operating commercial motor vehicles unless and until identified out-of-service conditions are corrected, the shutdown order said.
FMCSA has turned up the heat on companies not in compliance with federal safety regulations. On May 30, in the largest single safety crackdown in the agency’s history, FMCSA shut down 26 bus operations, declaring them imminent hazards to public safety, and ordered 10 individual bus company owners, managers and employees to cease all passenger transportation operations. The bus companies transported over 1,800 passengers a day along Interstate 95, from New York to Florida.
Earlier this month, FMCSA and its partners conducted safety inspections of motorcoaches, tour buses, school buses and other commercial passenger buses in 13 states and the District of Columbia resulting in over 2,200 safety inspections and the successful removal of 116 commercial motor vehicle drivers and 169 buses from the roadway for substantial safety violations.