PA Carrier Charged Criminally With False Logs

Posted on February 28, 2012 
Filed Under GENERAL, HORROR STORIES, HOURS OF SERVICE, IN THE NEWS

This comes to us from the Allentown Morning Call. A motor carrier from Lancaster, PA, DA Landis Trucking, Inc. has been charged criminally with fraud, based on false records of duty status. It’s owner, Dean A. Landis, has also been charged criminally, and faces a maximum sentence of five years in jail, if convicted according to the article. The indictment was handed down around February 6, 2012. The alleged violations took place between 2007 and 2009.

99.99% of the time when DOT finds logs which do not match supporting documentation such as toll, fuel, or scale receipts, they issue a monetary fine to the motor carrier. Sometimes they will issue a fine to the driver as well. On motor carriers, the fines vary depending on the size of the carrier, and how many previous fines they have. They can range from a few thousand dollars to upwards of $100,000. On drivers, they generally range from $500 – 1,500.

However, once in a great while, FMCSA will initiate criminal action against a motor carrier for safety violations. In my experience, these actions seem to be primarily geared towards log falsification. FMCSA itself has no ability to levy a criminal action. It must enlist the cooperation of the Justice Department in order to start a criminal action. This is probably why there are not more criminal actions. It is difficult to get the Justice Department to take these cases, as they are usually busy prosecuting real criminals.

Nevertheless, if they can convince the DOJ to handle the case, the DOJ, with the assistance of FMCSA, will file criminal charges. As you can see in this case, if convicted, the penalties are much more severe than an FMCSA fine. In Mr. Landis’ case, he could be sentenced to 1-5 years in jail.

How does FMCSA determine who is going to be that lucky motor carrier? Who is going to be that one in a thousand who they try to put in jail? Generally, they need proof of some type of willful falsification. That is, if you are intentionally altering drivers’ logs, or helping them alter their logs, particularly to conceal drivers operating over hours, you could be at risk from one of these criminal actions. Also, if you operate in the eastern part of Pennsylvania. What does that have to do with anything? The FMCSA in this region has made friends with the local DOJ District Attorney, and he is ready, willing and able to put motor carrier officials in jail. That doesn’t mean they won’t go after you somewhere else, it just means if they catch you willfully falsifying records in eastern Pennsylvania, you are especially at risk from criminal prosecution.

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