WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–April 1, 2013. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today shut down Atlanta-based trucking company Southern Transportation, Inc. using new authorities given to FMCSA under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21).
Earlier this week, Southern Transportation stopped cooperating with FMCSA safety investigators and failed to provide copies of company safety records. Under provisions contained in MAP-21, signed into law by President Obama in July 2012, FMCSA may place a motor carrier out of service if it fails to comply with a letter demanding release of company safety records.
“Truck and bus companies that refuse to cooperate with safety investigators have no place on our nation’s roadways,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We will continue to use our authority to shut down motor carriers that endanger the public.”
“MAP-21 strengthens the ability of FMCSA investigators to take necessary and appropriate actions to protect innocent lives,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro. “We will not allow the safety of the traveling public to be compromised by an unsafe commercial truck or bus company.
Last week, FMCSA declared General Transportation, Inc., a trucking company operating out of the same location and with the same business model as Southern Transportation, to be an imminent hazard to safety, shutting down the company. FMCSA continues its investigation.
A copy of the imminent hazard out-of-service order can be viewed at: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/about/news/2013/SouthernTransportationInc.pdf
Source: dot.gov
