Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

Safety investigators found that Autobuses Zacatecanos failed to ensure that its vehicles were systematically and properly inspected, repaired and maintained. Onsite inspections of the carrier’s four buses revealed such numerous and serious safety violations that all four vehicles were immediately declared out of service.

Coach USA Tour Inc. operates a small fleet of tour buses and primarily provides sightseeing tours in the northeastern U.S. The company is “NOT affiliated in any way with Paramus, N.J.-based Coach USA Inc.,” according to the FMCSA.

This is the second shutdown of a passenger carrier following the deployment earlier this month of more than 50 specially trained safety investigators targeting high-risk passenger carriers.

During inspections of eight Rimrock Stages vehicles, FMCSA discovered 79 violations of federal safety requirements, including 33 violations that individually required the vehicles to be placed out of service. Each of the eight vehicles inspected was ordered out of service.

The imminent hazard/operations-out-of-service order issued by FMCSA prohibits Top Class Bus Co. from any type of commercial passenger service and it blocks the unapproved use of its buses by another company or any driver.

On Feb. 3, 2013, a bus operated by Scapadas Magicas transporting passengers from locations including Tijuana, Mexico on a ski trip to the Southern California area, crashed on a mountain road striking two other vehicles east of San Bernardino.

The driver of the bus that crashed, Haeng Kyu (James) Hwang, was found to have been driving well beyond the 70-hour maximum hours of service within a seven-day period as permitted under federal regulations.

As part of the investigation into the Dec. 30, 2012, crash of a Mi Joo Tour & Travel bus in Oregon, FMCSA investigators conducted an investigation regarding the company’s compliance with all U.S.-mandated safety regulations, including record keeping of its drivers’ hours of driving time, rest breaks and off-duty periods.

Between 2000 and 2009, FMCSA issued a total of 14 imminent hazard orders placing unsafe carriers out of service. In just the last two years, FMCSA has already issued another 14 imminent hazard orders to take carriers that pose an immediate risk to passengers off the road.