The company that owns the tractor-trailer involved in a fatal July 2 accident on Interstate 95 in Stamford, Conn., reportedly has a history of safety violations and was cited on a statewide list of delinquent interstate motor carriers last summer.
Ginnetti Trucking of East Haven was one of 25 trucking companies targeted by Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the state Department of Motor Vehicles last year for having a poor safety rating based on accident frequency, driver safety, vehicle safety and out-of-service rates, the Stamford Advocate reported.
A Bronx, N.Y., woman was killed near Exit 9 southbound when two wheels flew off a 2006 Ginnetti-owned truck traveling in the northbound lane, and slammed into the car; four others were injured. The police report said the wheels dislocated from the trailer’s fifth axle because of a “mechanical failure,” according to the Advocate. Sgt. J. Paul Vance, state police spokesman, told the Advocate the accident is under investigation and that the truck is being held by state police and could be used as evidence if the driver or company is charged.
Since the truck safety list was released last year, the DMV has been “keeping an eye” on Ginnetti and the other motor carriers, department spokesman Bill Seymour told the Advocate; the state initial inspection found Ginnetti was in compliance with federal safety regulations, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also found the company to be in compliance.
In the past year, DMV has conducted 15 inspections of Ginnetti vehicles — 12 during roadside stops and three at the company’s terminal in East Haven, Seymour told the Advocate. Three times, the state took a Ginnetti vehicle out of service for safety violations, but otherwise, “the company has been making great strides” to comply, he added. “They have not been showing any major signs of a relapse,” Seymour told the Advocate.
The governor started her truck safety campaign a year ago after a dump truck owned by American Crushing & Recycling of Bloomfield careened out of control while descending a steep grade on Route 44 in Avon. The truck slammed into cars and a bus stopped at a traffic light and killed four people, including the truck driver.
