FMCSA Shuts Down Colorado Scrap Hauler

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has shut down E&K Trucking of Commerce City, Colo., declaring the company a hazard to public safety because it does not maintain its vehicles in good working order.

In its June 13 out-of-service order, FMCSA also said that E&K has failed to conduct background checks on drivers to ensure that they possessed commercial driver licenses or were medically qualified.

E&K declined to comment.

The company has had prior problems. In December, FMCSA revoked E&K’s operating authority, but the company told investigators that “it has no plans or intentions of ceasing transportation operations,” the new cease order said.

E&K, which is listed on FMCSA records as operating 11 power units and employing nine drivers, also failed to pass a compliance review in October.

During that audit, investigators said the company, which mostly hauls scrap materials, had a pattern of violating several “critical regulations” and had an unsatisfactory accident rate, used drivers that didn’t have CDLs, and failed to check driver employment and accident background records.

“The carrier’s current vehicle out-of-service rate is 81%; of the last 21 inspections conducted of the carrier’s vehicles in operation, 17 of those inspections revealed serious safety violations requiring the vehicles to be ordered out-of-service,” the order said.