JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — A little more than a month before a deadly semi crash in Jefferson County, a driver for the same trucking company offered a peculiar, handwritten sign to a Kansas State Trooper who had just informed the driver he wasn’t supposed to be driving that truck.
The driver, according to a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) report, “showed the officer a poster board sign” that had another company’s name “handwritten on it.”
The apparent act of deception ultimately mattered little to the FMCSA. Weeks later, on June 3, 2024, the FMCSA reinstated Monique Trucking’s Department of Transportation number.
Eight days later, Colorado State Patrol says a Monique Trucking driver driving without a valid commercial driver’s license lost control of his semi on Highway 285. The resulting crash killed Scott Miller, 64. That driver, Ignacio Cruz-Mendoza, was arrested and is charged with careless driving resulting in death and three counts of careless driving resulting in injury.
Last week, FMCSA declared Monique Trucking an “imminent hazard” and effectively shut down the California-based trucking company.
The report, obtained by 9NEWS Investigates, outlines a series of troubling events involving Monique Trucking dating back to 2022 that FMCSA now calls “unacceptable.”
Zach Cahalan, the executive director of the Truck Safety Coalition, calls the findings of the report “insane.”
“It’s wild that this company was operating for over two years,” Cahalan said. “The failures abound. How were they ever allowed on the road?”
Among the issues raised by the report:
- Monique Trucking “failed to implement an alcohol and controlled substances testing program” as required by law.
- The company “allowed another driver to operate a CMV without a valid license” in 2022
- The company failed “to have a system in place to monitor your drivers’ hours of service compliance” as required by law
- Prior to the 2024 Colorado crash, the company’s driver “had five roadside inspections, and were placed [out of service] on four of five occasions.”
- Monique Trucking had “no way of monitoring whether drivers are driving beyond the hours-of-service limits.”
- Monique Trucking, according to federal investigators, repeatedly “failed to respond” to California State Patrol’s efforts to conduct a safety audit
RELATED: Semi driver arrested in fatal Highway 285 crash had been removed from US multiple times, ICE says
Cahalan said the findings show the federal government remains incapable of making sure new trucking companies are capable of operating safely. In 2022, 9NEWS Investigates found FMCSA was well short of its goals when it came to auditing new trucking companies.
Monique Trucking, according to federal records, started operations in 2022. It was never audited by FMCSA.
> The 9NEWS Investigates team is covering this story. If you have a tip about this story or any other story email investigates@9news.com
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