Off-duty not driving serving time
09/18/2008


FRESNO, Calif. -- Five truckers in this state have been sentenced to jail time and made to pay really stiff fines after pleading guilty to cooking their logbooks.

Sukhwinder Singh, Tarsem Singh Pahal, Bhinder Singh RAJU, Daljit Singh, and Jaspreet Singh were sentenced for keeping false driver's log books while employed as truck drivers for Nijjar Brothers Trucking, Inc. of Madera, Calif.

Sukhwinder Singh, the company’s safety director, was sentenced to six months’ house arrest and two years’ probation.

All of the defendants were ordered to leave trucking until such time as the they receive permission from the parole office to return.

Coincidentally, during the investigation of the logbook situation a driver for Nijjar Brothers caused a four-vehicle collision, killing a father and his 13-year-old son and seriously injuring six others.

The driver, Baljinder Singh, had been driving for at least 19 hours. He, too, was subsequently convicted and sentenced for falsifying his logbook entries.

The criminal charges were laid after an Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) uncovered widespread noncompliance with HOS rules as well as head-office support for the logbook violations.

In most cases the FMCSA sends the carrier, the executives and drivers involved a Notice of Claim telling them that they’re liable to be fined if they don’t shape up. If the violations seem particularly widespread within a company, the carrier can be told to cease operations until they put a corrective plan is put into action.

It’s only when the FMCSA deems the violations to be deliberate and very serious that they call in the DOT, which in turn can call in the local federal prosecutor.

According to experts, logbook tampering becomes a felony in California if the parties involved know the tampering is going on and don’t do anything about it or worse, helped with the violations.

 

It would be nice if the courts could sentence more drivers just like this.


BTW, welcome to the board, Pipeman. :wink:

 

I was just following up on this with a search, and seems this investigation with charges, started about 4 years ago, and 5 companies were involved. This Nijjar Brothers Company are just now getting sentencing. I haven't read all the articles very well, but enough to know this stemmed from accidents, and numerous complaints. Seems this particular company was well known for having about 3-4 guys living out of a truck, some with CDL's and some not.

I bet there will be many more like this, coming to this Country with no regard for our citizens or our laws, and willing to work for less wages, basically stealing work and money, before they are deported.

I'm glad to see companies like this get taken off the roads. Apparently, their trucks were pretty well beaten up too.

http://www.oig.dot.gov/item.jsp?id=1450

 

Fudged my books all the time at GTS I remember getting loaded in Eagan ,Mn on 3/22 1000 and arriving in Grand Junction,Co 3/23/--0900...100% legal "on paper" matching fuel stamps...I never drove tired ,but i re-wrote log book history as required.

 

I wondered what the hell you were talking "aboat" until I saw where op had listed as where he was from

 

We know him from other boards. :wink:

 

He already knows you two convicts? :lol:

The leash just keeps getting shorter then.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anpzJv3ClGY

 

double post