Re-launched carrier gets another DOT takedown

   The  U.S. Transportation Department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has ordered the Tennessee-based trucking company Terri’s Farm to immediately cease all interstate transportation services because of prior unsafe practices.
   The FMCSA said it ordered the shutdown because of evidence that Terri’s Farm was a chameleon operation of another unsafe company previously stopped by the agency. The agency said that after a review of Terri’s operations it found the company was using the same vehicles and the same operational and safety management structure as former horse transporter Three Angels Farms.
   Three Angels Farm was ordered closed by the FMCSA on July 29. It was shut down when safety investigators found multiple safety infractions, including allowing drivers to operate commercial motor vehicles without proper driver’s licenses and not having a practice of controlled substances testing for drivers. In the eight months prior to being shut down, Three Angel Farms had two accidents due to under-maintained vehicles and fatigued or disqualified drivers, which resulted in the deaths of four horses.
   “Terre’s Farm’s operational structure and safety management controls are a continuation of the inadequate safety management controls of Three Angels Farms,” the FMCSA order said. “These inadequate safety management controls fail to ensure acceptable compliance with applicable safety requirements to reduce associated risks.”
   The carrier faces a $16,000-per-day fine for each day it continues operating in violation of the order. – Geoff Whiting