http://www.oig.dot.gov/rss.jsp?agency=5 The 10 most recent releases on the U.S. DoT OIG web site ... FMCSA en-US webmaster@oig.dot.gov (OIG Webmaster) http://www.oig.dot.gov/images/dot.gif http://www.oig.dot.gov/rss.jsp?agency=5 http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2553 On October 15, 2009, Charles D. Goodwin, Inc., (CDGI) doing business as Goodwins Trucking Company pled guilty in U.S. District Court, Winston Salem, North Carolina, to charges associated with the falsification of drivers duty status logs, which are regulated by FMCSA. CDGI is to be sentenced in May 2010.The investigation was initiated as a result of an FMCSA compliance review of CDGI following a fatal accident involving one of its drivers. The review revealed that the driver violated FMCSA hours of service regulations but was not at fault for the accident. DOT/OIGs investigation determined that between June 2007 and May 2008 CDGI drivers made numerous false entries in their drivers duty status logs. As part of the plea agreement, CDGI management admitted responsibility for the falsifications of the drivers duty status logs. Additionally, the plea agreement requires CDGI to install an FMCSA approved computerized monitoring device on all CDGI trucks. This DOT/OIG case was investigated with significant assistance by FMCSA. Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2553 http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2551 On October 9, 2009, Pablo Morales, previously a foreman with Adam Moving and Storage (AMS), Brooklyn, New York, a household goods (HHG) moving company, pled guilty in U.S. District Court, New York, New York, to a scheme of fraudulently inflating the cost of moving customers HHG. Mr. Morales participated in a scheme to provide AMS customers with lowball estimates, only to have the cost of the move increased, in some cases doubled or tripled, after the customers HHG were loaded on the moving truck. AMS would not release the customers HHG until they agreed to pay the artificially inflated rate. As part of his plea, Mr. Morales admitted to conducting this scheme on a move that was paid for by the Department of Defense. Investigation of AMS was initiated based on information received from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) alleging that AMS violated FMCSA regulations for failing or refusing to furnish an estimate in writing. As of May 2001, FMSCA received approximately 75 complaints alleging that AMS had been holding customers HHG hostage until the customer paid an artificially inflated amount. During a compliance review, FMCSA found that AMS had an established pattern of providing binding estimates to their customers that would be fraudulently inflated upon delivery. Federal regulations prescribe that the maximum a carrier can demand at time of delivery is no more than 10% over the nonbinding estimate amount. Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2551 http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2545 On September 21, 2009, Hugo Daniel Solana, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Newark, New Jersey, to one year probation and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment and a $500 fine in connection with his prior guilty plea for impersonating a Federal Motor Carrier Inspector. The Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Inspector Generals (OIGs) investigation determined that Mr. Solana owned a motor carrier consulting firm known as Redsol Safety Corporation (Redsol) in Union, New Jersey. Mr. Solana appeared at several trucking firms in the Newark, New Jersey, area where he displayed a gold badge, identified himself as a Inspector, and produced a business card bearing the DOT seal. He then threatened to arrest individuals for perceived motor carrier violations. Mr. Solana later returned and advised the victim companies that they could hire Redsol to resolve their motor carrier issues. During Mr. Solanas interview by the DOT OIG case agent Mr. Solana identified himself as a DOT Inspector and produced a gold badge. He was later arrested by DOT OIG special agents and the badge was confiscated. Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2545 http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2531 On August 25, the U.S. District Court of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, unsealed a fortycount indictment charging Rubik Avetyan, and his two sons, Allen and Alfred, with multiple counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy. Mr. Avetyan and his sons created two shell companies and provided false identity information to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA). The Avetyans used the shell companies to facilitate a doublebrokerage scheme and transport stolen merchandise. They received approximately $1,060,000 in illicit payments and goods. The indictment alleged that the Avetyans utilized various motor carrier broker websites to procure loads for transport with unsuspecting businesses. The Avetyans entered into agreements with legitimate brokers which falsely indicated that their shell companies would haul and broker the load. They then brokered the load to a legitimate carrier and agreed to compensate the legitimate carrier at a higher rate. The Avetyans obtained payments from the brokerage firm that listed the load, but failed to pay the carrier that actually delivered the load. Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2531 http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2530 On August 17, we issued our report on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations (FMCSA) implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreements (NAFTA) crossborder trucking provisions. This report is required under Section 350(c) of the FY 2002 Department of Transportation Appropriations Act. We found that FMCSA continually took actions to address our August 2007 recommendations for improving the border safety program, but needed to enhance the consistency of information reported to the Mexican Conviction Database (MCDB) and its capacity to perform safe and efficient bus inspections at border crossings. FMCSA concurred with all five of the reports recommendations for improvement and provided appropriate planned actions and target completion dates. Note: As directed in the committee report accompanying the annual appropriations act for the Department of Transportation, OIG reports requested by the House or Senate Committees on Appropriations must be withheld from public distribution for a period of 15 days. In compliance with this requirement, the report was made available on our Web site on September 2, 2009. Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2530 http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2519 On July 30, 2009, we issued our report on the audit of the Data Integrity of the Commercial Drivers License Information System (CDLIS), as required by the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA−LU). This audit addressed the validity of CDLIS data and security issues. We assessed: (1) whether convictions received from the courts were recorded in a timely manner, (2) whether CDLIS and state department of motor vehicles (DMV) systems were adequately secured, and (3) the adequacy of contingency plans to ensure continued CDLIS service to DMVs following a disaster or other emergency. FMCSA has taken measures to strengthen the CDL program, but additional action is necessary to increase the safety of the Nations highways. First, DMVs are still experiencing delays in posting convictions to their driver history records for CDLIS users access. Second, deficiencies in security controls persist. Specifically, system certification and accreditation reviews have not been completed, and states lag in developing and implementing comprehensive security policies and procedures to better protect DMV systems. Third, enhanced contingency planning and testing of both CDLISAccess and state DMV systems has not fully occurred. We made specific recommendations to address these weaknesses. The Acting Deputy Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration concurred with our findings and recommendations, and has provided plans to take specific actions to implement them. Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2519 http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2509 On June 29, Nicholas Lakes, aka Dimitry Livshits, a Russian citizen of Glendale, California, was sentenced to 70 months in prison for computer fraud, mail fraud, and aiding and abetting following a guilty plea. Mr. Lakes pled guilty to superseding information in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, CA. Mr. Lakes and his business partner, Viacheslav Berkovich of Los Angeles, CA, were involved in a scheme to defraud trucking companies. In June 2008, OIG began the investigation based on numerous complaints from other trucking companies. In their scheme, Mr. Lakes and Mr. Berkovich fraudulently established a trucking company and a broker company by illegally gaining access to the Safety and Fitness Electronic Records System or (SAFER) System, which is maintained by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Mr. Lakes and Mr. Berkovich accessed these websites to register and use fictitious brokerages to offer trucking loads and collect payment from the original brokers. This allowed them to “double broker” the trucking jobs to legitimate trucking companies that were never paid for their actual deliveries. Mr. Lakes and Mr. Berkovich then tricked legitimate brokers into paying them by attesting that their fraudulent companies actually transported loads. On October 28, 2008, an indictment charged both with computer fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud. Mr. Berkovich subsequently pled guilty on February 23, 2009, and will be sentenced later this year. Mr. Lakes was ordered to pay restitution to the victims in the amount of $2,897,629. Mr. Lakes will also forfeit a TD Ameritrade account containing $1,455,697. Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2509 http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2426 On February 6, 2009, we issued a status report on the NAFTA CrossBorder Trucking Demonstration Project, in keeping with legislation enacted in May 2007. By law, we are required to issue a final report 60 days after the conclusion of the project, which was initiated on September 6, 2007. This report describes the status of the project at the conclusion of the first year. It also responds to a question for the record from our March 2008 testimony before the Senate on the withdrawal of Trinity Industries de Mexico from the project. Our report found that after the first year, FMCSA has not demonstrated that the number of Mexican carriers participating in the demonstration project is adequate to yield statistically valid results, and that in some respects, the participants are not representative of all applicants for longhaul authority in terms of some business characteristics and outofservice rates. The panel that the Department established to provide an independent evaluation of the demonstration project completed its report on the first year of the demonstration project but will not continue in that capacity during the remainder of the project. FMCSA will continue to monitor the participants and conduct an internal evaluation of any effects of the project on motor carrier safety in the United States. While FMCSA implemented Federal and state monitoring and enforcement mechanisms and checks are occurring at the border, a key quality control measure designed to provide assurance that all trucks are checked is not adequate because it relies on incomplete data. Finally, Trinity Industries de Mexico voluntarily withdrew from the project to avoid business disruptions, and its prior safety history showed that outofservice rates were lower that those of United States carriers. We recommended that FMCSA demonstrate that the project meets congressional requirements to yield statistically valid results by (a) determining the minimum number of Mexican carriers that must participate, (b) developing a plan to attain a sufficient number of carriers if they have not met this threshold, and (c) providing this information to the OIG and appropriate congressional committees. We also recommended that FMCSA develop and implement a new quality control plan to provide assurance that every Mexican truck is checked upon every entry to the United States, and that FMCSA conduct a cost/benefit analysis to determine if renewing GPS services will provide benefits that outweigh the costs. Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2426 http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2392 The Office of Inspector General plans to audit the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations (FMCSA) Motor Coach Safety Program. Our audit objective is to determine whether FMCSA effectively implemented its National Motor Coach Safety Program. This program emphasizes (1) conducting more compliance reviews of motor coach carriers; (2) establishing a prioritization system for motor coach carrier compliance reviews; (3) mandating state motor coach inspection programs; (4) improving safety data, including a bus crash causation study; (5) reducing motor coach fires; and (6) expediting safety audits of new motor coach carriers. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2392 http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2374 On October 7, 2008, the Assistant Inspector General for Highway and Transit Audits testified at the National Transportation Safety Boards (NTSB) hearing covering a motor coach crash that occurred on January 2, 2008, in Victoria, Texas. At the request of the NTSB, the testimony covered prior Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit report findings and recommendations pertaining to Mexicodomiciled bus inspections performed at United StatesMexico border crossings and Mexicodomiciled vehicle compliance with United States Federal Motor Carrier Safety Standards (FMVSS) while operating in the United States. Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=2374