HOS violations lead
to prison sentences
Jun 27, 2008 9:20 AM
Surinder S Nijjar, owner and president of Nijjar Brothers Trucking, Inc (Nijjar Brothers), Madera CA, has been sentenced in US District Court to serve 12 months in prison and 36 months supervised probation and fined $5,000 for false statements and aiding and abetting, according to information from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Department of Transportation.
According to the OIG information, Amritpal Singh, co–owner of Nijjar Brothers, was sentenced to 12 months probation and fined $5,000 for the same offenses.
"The company routinely encouraged its drivers to falsify log books, and once the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) exhausted its regulatory process to bring the company into compliance, it contacted DOT/OIG for assistance," according to the information. "The day that DOT/OIG Agents executed the first of two search warrants on Nijjar Brothers, one of the company’s drivers had caused a four–vehicle collision, killing a father and his 13–year–old son and seriously injuring his 17–year–old son. Five other persons were injured. The driver had been driving for at least 19 hours; he was subsequently convicted and sentenced for falsifying logbook entries and served time in jail."
As part of the sentencing agreement, the two owners also are required to inactivate their DOT numbers, dissolve the companies, not have any ownership or interest in a trucking company during the periods of their probations, and each pay a fine of $50,000 to the US Treasury on behalf of their companies, according to the OIG information.
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