The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced Aug. 8 it suspended the operating authority of Espinal Trucking, based in Michigan City, Ind. and headed by Francisco Espinal Quiroz.
From in-depth coverage and data review, it’s become clear that FMCSA is putting extra muscle into shutting down truck and bus fleets. Small carriers are most vulnerable.
The agency says the carrier did not cooperate with an investigation into its compliance history.
One of the carrier’s tractor-trailers last month collided with a line of passenger vehicles in a construction zone on Interstate 55 in Will County, Ill., southwest of Chicago, FMCSA says, and in a subsequent agency investigation, Espinal denied the agency access to its safety records.
The MAP-21 highway funding law from 2012 gives the agency the authority to revoke the authority of motor carriers who do not comply with administrative subpoenas or letters demanding the release of safety records.
