FMCSA Orders Shutdown of North Carolina Trucking Company

WASHINGTON, March 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today announced that it has ordered Hendersonville, North Carolina-based Leslie Erickson, doing business as Les's Tree and Stump, Inc., USDOT No. 2512204, to immediately cease all intrastate and interstate operations after a federal investigation found the carrier to pose an imminent hazard to public safety.  Leslie Erickson was served the federal order on March 8, 2016.

In early February 2016, Leslie Erickson was subject to a federal compliance review investigation.  FMCSA safety investigators found the company to be in violation of multiple federal safety regulations including:

• Failing to conduct pre-employment background checks on drivers;
• Failing to ensure drivers were qualified before dispatching them in commercial operations;
• Failing to properly monitor drivers to ensure compliance with hours-of-service requirements;
• Failing to conduct random drug and alcohol tests on drivers, and;
• Failing to ensure that its vehicles were regularly inspected, maintained and repaired and met minimum safety standards. 

Leslie Erickson's continued use of unsafe vehicles and failure to adequately oversee drivers to ensure compliance with federal safety regulations substantially increases the likelihood of serious harm to its drivers and to the motoring public.

Violating an imminent hazard out-of-service order may result in a penalty of up to $25,000, operating without necessary authority may result in a fine of not less than $10,000, and operating without a USDOT number may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000.  A violation of this order may also result in a criminal penalty, including a fine of up to $25,000 and imprisonment not to exceed one year.

A copy of the imminent hazard out-of-service order can be viewed at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/newsroom/Leslie-Erickson-IHOOS.

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SOURCE Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Related Links

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov