Trucking news and briefs for Monday, Dec. 18, 2023:
Rhode Island fleet owner, company sentenced for bypassing emissions controls
The owner and president of a North Kingstown, Rhode Island-based trucking company and his two corporations were sentenced in federal court in Providence this week for violating the Clean Air Act by tampering with emissions control systems.
U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha in a press release said Michael J. Collins and his companies conspired together with trucking and diesel vehicle sales and service companies throughout the United States and with a foreign national to violate the Clean Air Act by selling and providing a software program that tampered with on-board vehicle computers to alter or bypass key features in emission control systems.
Collins, having previously pled guilty to a charge of conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act, was ordered to serve a term of three years of probation, perform 100 hours of community service, pay a $50,000 fine, and create a compliance and ethics program and to notify his employees and stockholders of said program.
Additionally, each of Collinsā corporations was placed on probation for three years and ordered to provide a payment of $125,000 to the Rhode Island Environmental Recovery Fund.
[Related: Two fleets fined by EPA for violating CARB regs]
According to Cunha, for nearly five years beginning in September 2014, Collins, his North Kingstown company M&D Transportation, Inc.; his now-defunct computer company Diesel Tune-Ups of RI, Inc.; various trucking and diesel vehicle sales and repair companies throughout the United States; and a foreign national all conspired to alter or disable certain functions of the electronic control modules (ECM) and on-board diagnostic (OBD) monitoring systems of heavy-duty trucks, performing what is known as ātunes.ā
Collins admitted that in exchange for a fee, the unnamed foreign national would download tuning software through a laptop provided by Collins and his companies, that was then connected to each vehicle. Through a remote connection, the ātunesā were downloaded onto each truckās ECM to reprogram the vehicleās monitoring systems.
The monitoring systems were manipulated so that they would not detect malfunctions in the emission control components, thereby allowing vehicles to operate without proper emission controls. As a result, ātunedā trucks could run with increased horsepower and torque, which can reduce maintenance and repair costs, but which results in significant increases in pollutant emissions, Cunha added.
The tuning business was marketed on Facebook, and interested companies were directed to contact a Rhode Island telephone number associated with Collins, M & D, and Diesel Tune-Ups. Customers paid Collinsā companies between $1,700 and $3,650 for each vehicle ātuned.ā Collins and his companies wired a portion of the funds to their foreign co-conspirator and retained a portion of the funds for themselves.
[Related: Another individual pleads guilty in emissions ādeleteā case]
Interstate Health offering discounted DOT physicals through end of year
Interstate Health, a medical services company working to improve access to quality healthcare for truck drivers, is offering $49.99 Department of Transportation (DOT) physicals for commercial drivers and fleet operators at its Racine, Wisconsin, and Port Wentworth, Georgia, locations until Dec. 31, with no appointment necessary.
The company is offering these deeply discounted DOT physicals in conjunction with the grand openings of these two locations earlier this fall, and as a way to thank valued commercial drivers for all they do during the holiday season and year-round, the company said.
The company said fleet operators can buy discounted DOT physicals before the end of the year and redeem at any time through March 31, 2024.
Interstate Health Racine is located in the Racine Petro at Exit 333 off I-94. Interstate Health Port Wentworth is located at the Port Fuel Center, 5712 Highway 21, Suite 300, Port Wentworth, GA 31407.
