FMCSA Declares Bus Company Out of Service
Posted on December 31, 2007
Filed Under HOURS OF SERVICE, IN THE NEWS
Tornado Bus Company, Inc., of Dallas, TX, which has about 50-60 buses, was placed Out of Service by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) on December 27, 2007, because it is an “imminent hazard” on the highways. Here is the link to the Out of Service Order itself.
Tornado was involved in an accident on November 25, 2007, in Arkansas, where their bus crossed the median in Interstate, struck an on-coming pickup truck, killing the pickup driver, and three bus passengers. During the ensuing audit, investigators discovered such egregious violations at Tornado, that they are taking this highly unusual step of basically revoking Tornado’s operating authority until further notice.
After reading the Out of Service Order…. I believe that FMCSA is doing the 100% correct thing here. I don’t know who came up with the idea to place Tornado OOS, Joanne Cisneros, Lucy Johnson, or Darrell Ruban, but kudos for doing your job. According to the OOS Order, Tornado is running buses well in excess of the hours of service rules. On the November fatality accident, the driver was over his hours. Putting two and two together…. over hours, bus crossed the median into oncoming traffic.. the bus driver probably fell asleep. Tornado has a regularly scheduled run from Dallas to Chicago, which is almost 1,000 miles. That would take 16-18 hours to run legally, and would require two drivers. Bus drivers are only allowed 10 hours of driving time in one shift. Tornado is apparently sending only one driver on this run. I know I don’t want to ride in a bus where the driver is driving for 17 straight hours. Of course, I wouldn’t be caught dead riding on a Tornado Bus, but I also don’t want to share the highway with a bus where the driver is driving for 17 straight hours.
The imminent hazard statute is almost never used by FMCSA anymore. Its lawyers are too scared they won’t be able to back it up, as the words, “imminent hazard” really have no definition. It’s hard to prove that an accident could happen today, tomorrow, or the next day, which is what you’re saying if you declare someone to be an imminent hazard. Think of it in terms of how Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart described pornography. It’s hard to define, but “I know it when I see it”. In this case, you have a bus company running drivers well over hours, and you already have a multi-fatality accident caused in all likelihood by fatigue. Tornado is most certainly an imminent hazard.
Back in the day, when FMCSA used to issue imminent hazard OOS Orders more frequently, they had a habit of placing a carrier OOS on Monday, and letting them back in service on Tuesday. I hope they don’t do that in this case.
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