A Texas carrier was shut down by the feds for the second time in a month earlier this week.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration declared JPL Logistics LLC, a motor carrier located in the Houston area, to be an “imminent hazard” to public safety and ordered the company to immediately cease all interstate and intrastate operations. The motor carrier was served the federal order on Tuesday, May 31.
JPL Logistics was declared an imminent hazard after FMCSA determined that it began operating so Jaypur Logistics LLC could avoid the Imminent Hazard Order issued to it on May 7. The imminent hazard order issued to Jaypur Logistics, which is still in effect, specifically notes that a motor carrier “cannot avoid this order by continuing operations under the name of another person or company.”
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However, Jaypur Logistics did just that by operating as JPL Logistics. JPL Logistics used common ownership, common management, common control, and/or common familial relationship to enable Jaypur Logistics and its principal to avoid Jaypur Logistics’s imminent hazard order.
On the same day the order was served on Jaypur Logistics, a Jaypur Logistics driver was stopped for violating the imminent hazard order and placed out of service. Jaypur Logistics immediately provided the driver with the DOT number of JPL Logistics to complete the trip.
FMCSA’s prior review of Jaypur Logistics found the motor carrier to be egregiously noncompliant with multiple federal safety regulations, including:
- Controlled Substances and Alcohol Use and Testing
- Commercial Driver’s License Standards
- Driver Qualification
- Unsafe Driving
- Hours of Service of Drivers
- Vehicle Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance
FMCSA’s imminent hazard out-of-service order says JPL Logistics’ “…avoidance of compliance with the [federal safety regulations] and the Jaypur IH Order substantially increases the likelihood of serious injury or death for your drivers and the motoring public if your operations are not discontinued immediately.”
Failing to comply with the provisions of the federal imminent hazard order may result in civil penalties of up to $29,893 for each violation. JPL Logistics LLC may also be assessed civil penalties of not less than $11,956 for providing transportation in interstate commerce without operating authority registration, and up to $16,864 for operating a CMV in interstate commerce without USDOT Number registration. Knowing and/or willful violations may result in criminal penalties.
A copy of the imminent hazard order issued to JPL Logistics is available here.
A copy of the imminent hazard order issued to Jaypur Logistics is available here.
