The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ordered Texas-based Denny Mekenye, doing business as Demco Express and Demco Trans Inc. to immediately cease all transportation services based on serious safety violations that posed an imminent hazard to public safety.

FMCSA uncovered multiple federal safety violations in the areas of drivers' hours-of-service compliance, driver qualifications and drug testing requirements.

Safety investigators discovered that the company falsified drivers' records of duty status, allowed its drivers to operate with commercial driver's licenses that had been suspended, revoked or disqualified and did not conduct proper controlled substances testing of its drivers. In addition, within the last 12 months, 10 of Demco's drivers have been placed out of service for not being licensed to drive. At the time of the investigation, one Demco driver was driving with at least four active suspensions on his license.

Demco's BASIC scores in Unsafe Driving (97.1 %), Fatigued Driving (99.4%), Drugs and Alcohol (81.2% ) and Vehicle Maintenance (97 .1%) exceeded the established BASIC threshold. As for Drugs and Alcohol, Demco's BASIC scores were alarmingly high at 81.2% for April, 86.5% for March, 90.1% for February, and 92.1% for January.

"Safety cannot be compromised," says FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. "Adhere to the safety regulations, or you will be shut down."

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