Department of Transportation Obtains Favorable Judgment Against Moving Company for Operating without FMCSA Registration and Continues Strengthening State Partnerships to Protect Consumers
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration continues priority work through education, enhanced resources, and targeted field operations.
WASHINGTON DC – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) won a landmark judgment against a household goods moving company for unauthorized transportation of household goods, in violation of FMCSA’s registration requirements. FMCSA also continues to strengthen state partnerships and take other actions to better protect consumers when they are moving household goods across state lines.
On Sep. 11, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued a final judgment against USA Logistics, Inc., ordering the company to pay $25,000 in fines to resolve multiple violations of FMCSA statutes and regulations. The final judgment stems from a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of Secretary Buttigieg, against USA Logistics for repeated unauthorized transportation of household goods. As part of the final judgment, USA Logistics admitted all violations and agreed to obey the law in the future.
“Families deserve to know that their possessions are in safe hands when they’re moving to a new home, and this Department has taken action against carriers that are not fulfilling their end of the deal,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The judgment we’re announcing today is an important step forward in holding moving companies and brokers accountable for deceptive practices, and we will continue to use our authority to protect consumers everywhere we can.”
“We want carriers to know that there can be major consequences when federal regulations are not followed,” added FMCSA Deputy Administrator Vinn White. “We use the full scope of our current authority to stop bad actors, and we were proud to partner with DOJ on this important case.”
Additionally, FMCSA hosted a Commercial Enforcement and Consumer Protection (CECP) course last month for state attorney general personnel to highlight consumer protection issues in the transportation of household goods and enforcement options available to address these practices. The CECP course builds on FMCSA’s work to focus agency resources on addressing moving complaints and conducting Operation Protect Your Move – an annual deployment of dozens of FMCSA investigators across the country to crack down on moving companies with the most egregious complaints in the agency’s National Consumer Complaint Database. The 2024 Operation resulted in 60 investigations and over 30 enforcement actions.
In other recent developments related to consumer protection in household goods, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed a bipartisan bill in September to expand FMCSA’s available enforcement tools by providing the agency with explicit authority to assess civil penalties for violations of commercial regulations, including household goods consumer protection requirements, and to withhold registration from applicants failing to provide verification details demonstrating that they intend to operate legitimate businesses.
To learn more about how FMCSA is working to protect household goods consumers, visit www.protectyourmove.gov for updates.
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Original article published by FMCSA