Thursday, March 28, 2002
FMCSA 6-02
Contact: Dave Longo
Telephone: 202-366-0456
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today announced that it has fined two for-hire motor carriers hauling primarily household goods from New York State and one household goods broker from Florida.
Eilid Moving & Storage Inc. (Eilid) and On Budget Van Lines, Inc. (On Budget) both of Richmond Hill, NY, and National Moving Network, Inc. (NMN) of Miami, FL were served with notice of claim letters to initiate enforcement action for violations of the Federal Motor Carrier Commercial Regulations (FMCCR). The carriers and broker were assessed civil penalties of $61,000, $58,500 and $6,000 respectively.
Eilid
was cited for violations including failing to publish a tariff, failing to
participate in a dispute settlement program, failing to follow loss and damage
claims procedures, failing to provide the required consumer information “Your
Rights and Responsibilities When You Move,” failing to retain copies of
estimates, failing to properly prepare bills of lading, and
operating a charge card plan without a tariff provision.
On
Budget was cited for violations including failing to publish a tariff,
operating without legal authority, failing to participate in a dispute
settlement program, failing to provide the required consumer information,
“Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move,” failing to retain copies
of estimates, failing to properly prepare bills of lading, requiring shippers to sign documents
releasing the carrier from its liability, failing to have a copy of all
active agency agreements,
and operating a charge card plan without a tariff provision.
National
Moving Network, a household goods broker, was cited for violations involving
failing to disclose its broker status in advertising and representing
its operations to be that of a motor carrier.
The motor carriers and broker will have the opportunity to contest the alleged violations and the amount of the penalties in an agency proceeding.
These investigations were a result of consumer complaints received by FMCSA.
Consumers
may file household goods or other commercial motor carrier complaints via
FMCSA’s nationwide complaint hotline, 1-888-368-7238 (1-888 DOT-SAFT).
To further protect consumers, a commercial complaint form is now
available on FMCSA’s website at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/.
The form may be mailed or faxed to: FMCSA, 400 Seventh St., SW, MC-PA,
Washington, DC 20590. The fax
number is 202-366-3375.
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