Another bus company has been ordered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to immediately cease operations. Oregon-based bus company RC Investments Inc. is currently prohibited from operating because the company, FMCSA claims, was conducting bus trips in direct violation of the agency’s order in late August to stop.
FMCSA initially revoked RC Investments’ operating authority and ordered its officers to shut down all transportation operations effective Aug. 29. This came after an exhaustive review of the company’s safety compliance led to an unsatisfactory safety rating. The agency found that RC Investments failed to use properly licensed drivers and implement a driver drug and alcohol testing program. In addition, the company failed to regularly inspect its vehicles and ensure that its drivers are medically qualified.
On Nov. 10 FMCSA found RC Investments buses to still be operating, declared RC Investments an imminent hazard to the public and again ordered the company to shut down. The discovery was made during a nationwide crackdown on unsafe bus operators, part of FMCSA’s annual Passenger Carrier Safety Inspection Strike Force, where federal, state and local police conducted more than 8,000 surprise safety inspections of motorcoaches, tour buses, school buses and other commercial passenger vehicles over a two-week period.
“FMCSA is committed to saving lives. This temporary restraining order makes the agency’s shut-down orders against RC Investments enforceable by the court,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “We will continue to use every available resource to protect the traveling public and remove unsafe bus companies from the road.”
Over the past five years, FMCSA has doubled the number of bus inspections and comprehensive safety reviews of the nation’s estimated 4,000 passenger bus companies. Roadside motorcoach inspections have jumped nearly 100 percent, from 12,991 in 2005 to 25,705 in 2010, while compliance reviews are up 128 percent, from 457 in 2005 to 1,042 in 2010. In addition, FMCSA has initiated a greater number of enforcement cases against unsafe passenger carriers under the current administration: from 36 in 2008 to 44 in 2010.