FMCSA Could Detect ‘Chameleon’ Carriers With Closer Scrutiny, GAO Report Says

Federal officials could reduce the number of fleets that evade enforcement penalties by gaining new operating authority if they closely compared new motor carriers’ information to old carriers that had legal issues, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The agency said in a report released on March 22 that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration should use the same vetting process for trucking companies as it does for bus companies and household goods movers. That process could help FMCSA identify “reincarnated” fleets, also called “chameleon” carriers.

“Preventing chameleon motor carriers from operating under a new identity is important because they present significant safety risks to the motoring public,” said GAO, which acts as a government watchdog for Congress.

The report said that FMCSA should “develop a data-driven, risk-based vetting methodology” that compares new applicants to motor carriers with existing or previous enforcement issues and should look for common attributes, such as ownership, officers, addresses and phone numbers.

The agency then should investigate carriers found to have cha-meleon attributes to see if they intend to evade enforcement through reincarnation.

“Regularly using data analysis for targeting new applications would allow FMCSA to expand its examinations of newly registered carriers to include new applicants of all types using few or no additional staff resources,” GAO said.

An FMCSA spokeswoman said the agency is reviewing the report, but she declined further comment.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. John Olver (D-Mass.) requested a study of how FMCSA could find reincarnated carriers before they obtain operating authority in 2009.

“Sen. Murray is pleased with the GAO findings,” Eli Zupnick, her spokesman, told Transport Topics, adding that she plans to work with FMCSA to implement the recommendations.

The report faulted FMCSA’s new entrant safety audit program, which it said could go farther in finding reincarnated fleets if investigators knew how to ask the right questions.

GAO also found that FMCSA has trouble shutting down fleets because it must prove that a new corporation is a “successor” to a previous one. This process requires FMCSA to prove its case using both federal and state standards.

However, the surface transportation reauthorization bill the Senate passed last month would give FMCSA power to set its own federal standard for motor carrier succession and have to prove only that standard in court.

American Trucking Associations found GAO’s report “interesting,” said Rob Abbott, vice president of safety policy, “but I think the industry is just uncertain how prevalent the problem is, compared to other, more pressing federal priorities with respect to highway safety.”

ATA is concerned about the provision in the Senate bill giving FMCSA power to prove carrier succession, because it seems to set a low bar to prove succession, Abbott said.

Specifically, if a new carrier’s owner is related to the owner of a previous one with significant enforcement problems, FMCSA might be able to declare the new one a reincarnation, he said.

“I shouldn’t be penalized simply because I’m related to someone who committed an egregious error,” he said.

“How we define [reincarnated] carriers is something we have to address very cautiously,” he added.