FMCSA Orders Mississippi-based Carbo Limo of Oxford to Cease Interstate Passenger Service

WASHINGTON, May 30, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has ordered Oxford, Miss.-based Carbo Limo of Oxford, LLC, USDOT No. 1525224, to immediately cease its interstate passenger service.  This follows a finding by a team of specially trained investigators that the company's two motor coaches used for its interstate operations were unsafe and that drivers were not properly screened or monitored by the company to ensure compliance with federal safety regulations.

"Safety is our highest priority," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "Bus passengers and their drivers -- and everyone sharing the road -- deserve to reach their destination safely.  Safety is not negotiable."

Carbo Limo is a for-hire passenger carrier consisting of 10 passenger vans/minibuses and one stretch limousine used for its intrastate operations, principally shuttle service in and around Oxford.  The company also operates two large motor coaches to provide interstate passenger service, over which FMCSA has authority.  The action announced by FMCSA revokes Carbo Limo's federal operating authority to conduct for-hire, interstate transportation of passengers.

This action represents the ninth out-of-service order issued by FMCSA since the deployment April 1, 2013, of more than 50 specially trained "Operation Quick Strike" safety investigators targeting high-risk passenger carriers.  In the past six weeks, FMCSA investigators have issued out-of-service orders to bus companies in the District of Columbia, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, New York and Utah.  Since the beginning of 2013, FMCSA has issued out-of-service orders to a total of 16 bus companies and eight trucking companies.  The agency has also declared six commercial driver's license holders as imminent hazards, blocking them from operating in interstate commerce.

"Our 'Operation Quick Strike' teams are continuing their safety investigations from coast to coast," said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. "We will not allow safety to be compromised.  We will move quickly and decisively to stop unsafe carriers from putting the traveling public at risk."

During their recent investigation, FMCSA investigators found that Carbo Limo failed to ensure that its vehicles were properly and regularly inspected, repaired and maintained.  The company kept no records of tests conducted on emergency doors and windows on its two interstate motor coaches, and an inspection sticker was found to be falsified.

Carbo Limo also employed drivers before receiving pre-employment drug and alcohol tests as required by federal regulations.  The company was found to be in violation of regulations requiring random drug and alcohol testing of its drivers. In addition, the company failed to monitor and ensure that its drivers complied with federal hours-of-service regulations.  On occasion, the company dispatched a driver who did not possess a commercial driver's license.

A copy of today's imminent hazard out-of-service order can be viewed at
www.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/about/news/2013/CarboLimoLLC.pdf.

As part of FMCSA's work to make safety data readily available to the traveling public, the SaferBus mobile app gives bus riders a quick and free way to review a bus company's safety record before buying a ticket or booking group travel. The SaferBus app, available for iPhone, iPad and Android phone users, can be downloaded for free by visiting FMCSA's "Look Before You Book" webpage at www.fmcsa.dot.gov/saferbus.

Travelers planning a bus trip are also encouraged to think safety first before buying a ticket or chartering a bus by using FMCSA's multilingual passenger carrier safety checklist at: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/pcs/Index.aspx.

FMCSA urges consumers and whistleblowers to report any unsafe bus company, vehicle or driver to the agency through a toll free hotline 1-888-DOT-SAFT (1-888-368-7238) or FMCSA's consumer complaint web site: http://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov/HomePage.asp.

Consumers who bought a ticket on a bus company that FMCSA has recently placed out-of-service may be entitled to a credit from their credit card company under the Fair Credit Billing Act if they paid for the ticket by credit card. For more information visit: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/pcs/bus-credit-refund.aspx.

SOURCE Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration