FMCSA Shuts Four Kansas Trucking Companies
Federal officials said Thursday they have shut down four Kansas trucking companies, alleging that three of them are reincarnations of the fourth and that they were created to avoid financial penalties and an out-of-service order.
In the order, dated last week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said that Nationwide Inc. was created in 2005 to avoid a poor safety rating and fine issued to Royal Transport Inc. Nationwide was shut down in 2008 for failing to pay a fine, while Freight Inc. was created in 2009.
Midwest A Inc. was started in 2011 to avoid a poor safety history from Freight, FMCSA alleged in documents related to the case.
All the carriers share the same business address, as well as some officers and vehicles, FMCSA said. In addition to shutting them down, FMCSA’s order effectively combines all the companies’ safety records.
“Today’s action is another step toward raising the bar for commercial vehicle and roadway safety,” FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro said in a statement. “It sends a strong and important message that companies that attempt to evade safety regulations by reincarnating will be found and removed from the road.”
Nancy Kaur, a dispatcher for Freight, disputed FMCSA’s characterization of the relationship between the companies. She said Royal and Nationwide were shut down for financial reasons, and Freight and Midwest A are separate companies with separate officers.
“They don’t have anything to do with Nationwide and Royal Transport,” she told Transport Topics.
FMCSA first issued its order in January, but delayed it after the company appealed. In responding to the order in February, Binder Singh, owner of Midwest A, said all the companies are owned by different people, but list the same address because they are all relatives living in the same house.
