Trucking Company Owner Goes to Jail for Log Falsification
Posted on June 4, 2008
Filed Under HORROR STORIES, HOURS OF SERVICE, IN THE NEWS
This press release was issued recently by the Department of Justice. It illustrates that the government does take criminal action occasionally for safety violations.
FRESNO, Calif.—United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced today that SURINDER SINGH NIJJAR, 42, of Madera, Calif., owner of Nijar Brothers Trucking and NB Trucking, Inc., was sentenced to one year in prison by United States District Judge Anthony Ishii for making false statements to a government agency. He pleaded guilty on September 22, 2006.
This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General.
According Assistant United States Attorneys Mark E. Cullers and Marlon Cobar, who prosecuted the case, NIJJAR and other employees of Nijar Brothers Trucking and NB Trucking falsified the Drivers Daily Logs of their truck drivers. These daily logs were supplied to the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration, the federal agency authorized to ensure truck drivers do not exceed the daily maximum number of hours driving allowable. By falsifying the logs and allowing the falsification to take place, Judge Ishii found that NIJJAR “created a conscious risk of death or serious bodily injury” to drivers using the roads and put the safety of the public at risk. In addition to serving a year in federal prison, NIJJAR was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.
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