The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has revoked the authority of Sergio Tristan Maldonaldo, doing business as Tristan Transfer and one of the 14 Mexico-based trucking companies that were approved to operate in the FMCSA's long-haul cross-border program. Tristan Transfer had its provisional operating authority pulled on Jan. 23 after it received a conditional safety rating in December and was ordered to cease all interstate operations in the U.S.
An FMCSA spokesperson told The Trucker newspaper FMCSA investigators discovered the company had violated hours of service regulations among several other infractions.
The letter detailing the “conditional” rating said the company was deficient in: using a driver before the motor carrier has received a negative pre-employment controlled substance test result; failing to ensure person designated to ensure drivers undergo reasonable suspicion testing receive 60 minutes of training for alcohol and 60 minutes of training for controlled substances; requiring or permitting a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle driver to drive after the end of the 14th hour after coming on duty; and requiring or permitting a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle driver to drive after having been on duty for more than 70 hours in 8 consecutive days,
Nearly three years ago FMCSA announced the beginning of its long-haul cross-border program with Mexico, and despite a little controversy and a legal challenge by the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Teamsters Union that went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court last month (the Supreme Court ruled it would not consider a petition to overturn the previous Federal ruling in favor of the program), the program has remained in place.
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