Sen. Jim Banks (R-Indiana), who launched the “TruckSafe Tipline” earlier this month to give the public a place to report "trucking carriers you believe may be breaking federal law,” has penned a letter to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration detailing some early returns from that tipline and encouraging the agency to investigate and stop potential “chameleon carriers.”
Banks said in his letter that, based on information submitted to the tipline since its launch, he’s “especially concerned that Indiana may be a hotspot for so-called chameleon carriers.” Data he has received that raised concerns includes:
- Nearly 10,000 Indiana-based trucking companies have registered in the U.S. Department of Transportation database in the last six years.
- Over 2,000 carriers have been registered under the same two surnames.
- One suburb of Indianapolis, Greenwood, contains 1,000 newly-registered carriers.
- Over 300 carriers are active in the University Park neighborhood, which has a population of about 600 people in roughly 250 homes -- more than one carrier for each house.
- A cul-de-sac in Avon has 16 carriers.
- In Fishers, there are 10 registrations on the same neighborhood street.
[Related: Senator launches 'TruckSafe Tipline' to report carriers breaking federal laws]
Banks, in his letter to FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs, said he understands “trucking clusters by themselves do not constitute illegality. Some carriers may well be operating within the boundaries of the law.” However, "chameleon carriers operate through numbers, and the sheer volume of registered companies within neighborhoods and at single addresses suggests that Indiana communities may be functioning as hotbeds for illegal carriers,” he added.
“Whatever is going on with Indiana’s trucking clusters, it is killing Hoosiers,” Banks concluded. “I cannot stand by and watch as more of my constituents are put in harm’s way by drivers who should never have received a license in the first place.”
Banks urged Barrs “to use every tool at FMCSA’s disposal to investigate potential chameleon carriers and put violators out of service permanently.”
Barrs, just last week, joined Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in announcing several forthcoming FMCSA actions, including an effort to "unmask 'chameleon carriers.'" FMCSA in early February took just about 24 hours to get on the ground to investigate an interconnected network after a deadly crash in Indiana.
That investigation has led to several, interconnected "ghost office" carriers behind the crash being put out of service, as well as the "sham school" the driver attended, said Barrs, calling the speed at which it all happened "record time."
[Related: New bill targets 'chameleon carriers']
