WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) ordered Alabama-based BM&L Trucking, LLC, affiliated company IDM Transportation, Inc. and its owners to immediately cease all transportation services based on serious safety violations that posed an imminent hazard to public safety.

The shutdown order follows FMCSA’s extensive review of BM&L Trucking’s operations, which found multiple federal safety violations in the areas of hours-of-service compliance, driver qualifications and vehicle maintenance. 

“When commercial truck companies and their drivers disregard the safety rules of the road, they place all motorists at risk,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We will continue to exhaust every available tool to identify and swiftly shut down unsafe truck companies.”  

FMCSA immediately put BM&L Trucking out of service after safety investigators found a range of safety infractions that substantially increased the likelihood of serious injury to the traveling public.  For example, investigators discovered that the company did not conduct pre-employment drug screenings of its drivers. The company also operated vehicles that had serious mechanical defects and were not regularly inspected and repaired.

"This case is an example of our resolve to raise the bar for commercial vehicle and roadway safety,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “There is no place on our roads for commercial truck companies and drivers that do not make safety a top priority.”   

A copy of the imminent hazard out-of-service order can be viewed at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/about/news/2012/BML-Trucking-IH-Order.pdf.