The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced late Thursday, Jan. 7, that it had reinstated the âconditionalâ rating of a 300-truck Vermont-based LTL carrier.
Land-Air Express of New Englandâs 330 trucks and 340 drivers had been idle since a Dec. 29 out-of-service order by the FMCSA.
The FMCSA Thursday said, âBased on a negotiated Safety Management Plan, and evidence of actions taken by the company to correct deficiencies in its safety management system, Land-Airâs rating has been upgraded to âconditional,â and the out-of-service order lifted. As part of the negotiated agreement, FMCSA will closely monitor the carrierâs safety performance for the next two years.â
Land-Air President William Spencer earlier had said the company fulfilled FMCSAâs basic remedial requirements and was waiting to hear that it could resume work.
He wouldnât offer specifics on measures taken to shake the out-of-service order, but said he and the staff are âdoing our best to accomplishâ what the agency asked.
FMCSA says it issued the âproposed unsatisfactoryâ rating to the fleet in October, giving the carrier 60 days to submit a corrective action plan or see its safety rating moved to âunsatisfactory.â Land-Air did not, FMCSA says, though the carrier still had the option of appealing the out-of-service order or submitting a corrective action plan following the Dec. 29 out-of-service order.
FMCSA spokesperson Duane Debruyne says more than 800 carriers each year move from âproposed unsatisfactoryâ ratings to âunsatisfactoryâ ones, effectively shutting those carriers down for good.