FMCSA Shuts Ga. Carrier for Not Cooperating With Investigators

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ordered Atlanta-based Southern Transportation Inc. to stop operating, using new authority that allows the agency to shut down carriers that refuse to release safety records to investigators.

The agency said the trucking company stopped cooperating with officials who were investigating whether the company was related to General Trucking Inc., a carrier FMCSA shut down the previous week that has the same business address.

FMCSA had declared General Trucking to be an “imminent hazard to public safety” due to its use of unqualified drivers, inadequately monitoring drivers’ hours of service and operating overloaded vehicles.

“Map-21 strengthens the ability of FMCSA investigators to take necessary and appropriate actions to protect innocent lives,” FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro said in a statement about Southern Transportation. “We will not allow the safety of the traveling public to be compromised by an unsafe commercial truck or bus company.”

Map-21, the major transportation law enacted last year, allows FMCSA to shut down carriers that do not cooperate with investigators. FMCSA first used the authority earlier last month to shut down Fung Wah Bus Transportation Inc., a bus company based in Boston.

The phone number listed for Southern Transportation went to E Z Trucking Inc. Allen Sun, E Z’s manager, told Transport Topics his company is unrelated to both Southern Transportation and General Trucking. He said E Z is an active carrier that continues to operate.

In shutting down General Trucking, FMCSA officials mentioned E Z as a company that is “affiliated” with General Trucking, and said the order bars both companies from operating. All three companies share the same business address, according to FMCSA records.