Company Wins Safety Rating Challenge

A Department of Transportation administrative law judge has told the Federal Highway Administration to vacate an out-of-service order it issued on the grounds that the agency had not demonstrated any "imminent hazard" in the case.

The case may have ramifications for the FHWA's beleaguered motor carrier safety rating system.

Dave Kistler and Grandson Trucking Inc. of Kempton, Pa., had been issued an out-of-service order April 1 by Joseph L. Muscaro, acting operations manager of the highway administration's Eastern Resource Center in Baltimore.

It detailed multiple violations of federal motor carrier regulations at Grandson, including requiring drivers to violate hours-of-service limits; filing false records of duty status; failing to conduct pre-employment drug testing; failing to qualify drivers; and failing to conduct random controlled-substance testing.

However, on April 8, Acting Chief Administrative Law Judge Ronnie A. Yoder ruled that the order failed to demonstrate "a prima facie basis for its issuance or an imminent hazard threatening the likelihood of serious injury or death."

"FHWA admitted to the judge that it ordered this trucking company out of business without pointing to any imminent hazard … which is supposed to be the standard for out-of-service orders," said Anthony J. McMahon, a former FHWA chief counsel who represented Grandson in its challenge of the order.

He added that since the data analyzed in this case is the same used to select carriers for compliance reviews, the ruling casts doubt on the reliability of the safety rating system.

"A carrier selected for compliance review based on conclusions drawn from the data may be able to mount a successful challenge to its selection," McMahon said.