The FMCSA has issued a shutdown, ordering Golden Eagle Delivery out of Lowell Massachusetts to cease operations after the carrier was found to pose an imminent hazard to public safety.
An investigation arose from the company’s failure to submit to a New Entrant Safety Audit.
According to the Out of Service order, on April 29th, a Golden Eagle Delivery truck’s brakes failed, causing the truck to crash into a home. This crash caused the truck driver to suffer serious injury and incurred significant damage to the property.
A month later, another of the company’s trucks brakes failed, causing it to break down in a travel lane.
On May 23, six of the company’s seven vehicles were inspected. All of the inspected trucks were placed out of service for maintenance issues including defective brakes.
The investigation revealed the following violations per FMCSA:
- Failing to ensure that its vehicles were regularly inspected, maintained and repaired, and met minimum safety standards.
- Failing to require that drivers conduct pre- and post-trip inspections and submit reports of safety defects to the company in order to make repairs.
- Dispatching vehicles with known safety defects that had been discovered during roadside inspections without making the required repairs.
FMCSA reported the company did not have a vehicle maintenance program in place. The investigation also revealed that Golden Eagle Delivery did not require pre or post trip inspections.
The order stated that the company’s:
“continual and blatant disregard for federal safety regulations, including operating vehicles declared out-of-service based upon unsafe conditions, and repeated roadside citations for brake and other safety issues, substantially increases the risk of death or serious injury if not discontinued immediately.”
FMCSA is considering criminal and civil penalties for the violations discovered during the investigation.