A new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rule establishes procedures for issuing out-of-service orders to “reincarnated” motor carriers in order to ensure that carriers who have a proven history of unsafe operations are not able to evade regulation by simply forming a new company or obtaining new registration.

The rule establishes procedures that will provide for an administrative review of carriers that have a history of failing to comply with statutory or regulatory requirements before an out-of-service order takes effect and establishes a process for consolidating FMCSA records of reincarnated companies with their predecessor entities.
The rule is in response to the discovery by FMCSA that a number of motor carriers were submitting new applications for registration, often under a new name, in order to continue operating after having been placed out of service for safety-related reasons, to avoid paying civil penalties or to otherwise avoid a negative compliance history, FMCSA said.