Road Scholar Transportation

On Nov. 8^th, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued an order to Gunthers Transport, declaring them to cease operations immediately.  The order came after a two-year evaluation finding that the carrier failed to “ensure it is complying with vehicle maintenance and repair regulations, vehicle out-of-service orders, drivers’ log requirements, and drivers’ hours of service requirements, thereby posing a continuing imminent hazard to the public.”  Along with these violations, Gunthers Transport was found to be “seriously deficient” in four BASIC categories, which measure the carrier and driver’s safety performance, placing the carrier on “alert” status.

Just weeks prior to this order, Mark Gunther Jr., the son of Gunthers Transport’s owner, formed a new company, Clock Transport LLC, under the same address as Gunthers Transport, taking out the minimum insurance policy and employing 15 drivers and 6 trucks.

When the FMCSA ordered Gunthers Transport to cease operations, they also “included a provision prohibiting Gunthers Transport from continuing operations as a different entity and selling or leasing its equipment without permission from the agency,” according to an article in The Baltimore Sun.

But since the order was issued after Gunther had already established Clock Transport, the chameleon carrier (an existing carrier who registers as a new carrier in order to hide poor safety records) is in its legal rights.

Due to this, Maryland police are keeping a close eye out for both Gunthers Transport and Clock Transport trucks.  “If we see their vehicles, they’re going to get inspected.  If we see them a couple minutes later, they’re going to be inspected again,” stated Maryland police Capt. Norman Dofflemyer (http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-11-21/news/bs-md-gunthers-reborn-11-22-20111121_1_mark-david-gunther-gunther-transport-trucking).

And police are doing just that, finding one of Clock Transport’s trucks to “have an inoperative headlight, a defective brake light and worn tires” as well as the driver being “beyond the federal limit of 11 hours,” during an inspection last month, ordering them off the road, the article notes.  The driver, however, expressed that it was his fault that he exceeded his hours since he was new to the business and believed he was logging them in the right manner.

Road Scholar Transport, however, only hires experienced, qualified drivers who are properly trained and knowledgeable of the regulations and devices inside their trucks.

In order to prevent chameleon carriers such as Clock Transport from operating unsafe equipment and drivers under a new name, the FMCSA plans on proposing a rule the start of next year “to shut down any commercial truck company operating with a pattern of evading or masking federal safety violations,” the article explains.

Why risk transporting your freight with a reincarnated carrier when you can ship with a trusted trucking, established company?

Road Scholar Transport has been around since 1988 and has never been cited for a piece of faulty equipment during an accident.  Go to www.roadscholar.com today to put your LTL and Truckload freight onboard one of Road Scholar’s safe vans and reefers.

What do you think needs to be done to prevent chameleon carriers from operating?  List your comments below.