When you’re on the road with commercial drivers, you want to know that they’re safe. The problem is that not all trucking or commercial businesses take safety seriously. Some push for longer hours while others try to get through their shifts without breaks. They may not take care of the fleet, resulting in maintenance issues on the trucks.
As a driver, that may terrify you, and it should. It’s important for people like you to pay attention to these drivers and to report when something doesn’t seem right on the roads.
Take, for example, this report about a small fleet of vehicles shut down after it was discovered that the company had violated multiple safety regulations. Evan Flo Logistics and its single driver were shut down after it showed that the driver had been placed “out of service” during inspections along the route. This happened 13 times more often to him than it did to other drivers nationally.
What did he do that was so wrong? The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reported that the company didn’t monitor the driver for hours-of-service compliance and failed to perform alcohol or drug tests before hiring him. He was reportedly in four crashes between January and the December report.
Another truck driver from California was also shut down when it was found that he had a medical condition that disqualified him from driving. He had also had his commercial license disqualified after a collision in September.
When drivers get behind the wheel and aren’t safe, everyone’s at risk. If you are hit by someone who is negligent, you have a right to make sure he or she is held responsible.
Source: CCJ Digital, “Small fleet, two drivers effectively shut down after numerous safety violations,” Matt Cole, Dec. 08, 2017