An Ohio trucking company has been placed out of service by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) after it was found to have 13 major safety violations and violating two previous out of service orders.
The FMCSA declared Garfield Trucking, LLC, USDOT No. 1882948, of Jefferson, Ohio-based to be an imminent hazard to public safety and ordered that it immediately cease all intrastate and interstate operations.
According to the FMCSA, on Oct. 4, a commercial vehicle operated by Garfield Trucking was stopped for an unannounced roadside safety inspection in Missouri. A total of 43 safety violations were recorded during the inspection, which the FMCSA said included 13 out-of-service violations such as multiple instances of improperly adjusted or inoperable brakes, defective brake components, cracked frame rails, load securement violations, and falsified hours-of-service log books.
It was further discovered that Garfield Trucking had been operating in violation of two separate out-of-service orders, one of which dated back to October 2014, said the FMCSA.
The agency said that on Oct. 13, its safety investigators visited Garfield Trucking to conduct an unscheduled compliance review. The investigators observed an “out-of-business” announcement on the premises. The investigators left and also sent by express mail copies of a demand for access letter and an administrative subpoena for company documents. The FMCSA said Garfield Trucking has yet to provide its safety investigators with access to the subpoenaed documents.
The company operates a total of three trucks.
According to the FMCSA, violating an imminent hazard out-of-service order and operating without operating authority and a USDOT number may result in civil penalties up to $60,000 as well as a criminal penalty, including a fine of up to $25,000 and imprisonment not to exceed one year.
