The former owners and a former driver for a Wilber, Neb.-based trucking company have been fined a total of $50,000 in a logbook falsification case. The penalties followed a joint investigation by the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
On Dec. 27, Rose and Robert Vyhnalek, former co-owners of R.J. Vyhnalek Trucking, were fined $12,500 each and ordered to jointly pay $20,000 in restitution by a U.S. District Court judge in Omaha, Neb. for conspiracy to violate FMCSA regulations governing maximum daily driving hours and for falsifying driver logbooks, respectively.
Rose Vyhnalek pled guilty in October to the felony conspiracy charge, admitting to directing drivers to violate hours-of-service regulations. Robert Vyhnalek pled guilty in October to misdemeanor charges. Richard Crawford, a driver/mechanic for the company, also was fined $5,000 for falsifying driver logbooks subsequent to his October guilty plea.
