Company declared imminent hazard after driver crashes, kills officer

March 7, 2022

Land Line Staff

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The company that hired a truck driver without a commercial driver’s license who was involved in a crash that killed a law enforcement officer has been deemed an imminent hazard to public safety.

The motor carrier to immediately cease all interstate and intrastate operations. An imminent hazard out-of-service order was served March 4 on Houston-based Koboat Trucking LLC, U.S. DOT No. 3273682.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has previously served an imminent hazard out-of-service order on the driver, Christopher M. Savannah of Houston.

The fatal injury crash occurred Feb. 3, according to an FMCSA news release. Savannah was operating a tractor-trailer on Interstate 75 in Loudon County, Tenn., when he failed to stop his truck upon encountering a roadblock. Sgt. Chris Jenkins of the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office had turned on the emergency lights in his patrol vehicle and gotten out of it to retrieve a ladder that had fallen onto the highway.

Savannah’s truck struck two vehicles stopped ahead of the roadblock and then struck and killed Jenkins, the FMCSA said. The driver of another vehicle sustained injuries.

Koboat Trucking’s driver did not have a commercial driver’s license at the time of the crash and was prohibited from operating commercial motor vehicles due to a previous positive drug test. He also was arrested for being under the influence of marijuana at the time of the crash.

An FMCSA review of Koboat Trucking found the motor carrier to be egregiously noncompliant with multiple federal safety regulations. Among them:

  • Controlled substances and alcohol use and testing.
  • Commercial driver’s license standards.
  • Driver qualification.
  • Hours of service of drivers.
  • Vehicle inspection, repair, and maintenance.

Koboat Trucking took no action to ensure its driver was eligible to drive, FMCSA said. Had it done so, it would have discovered that the driver was not properly licensed, and was prohibited from driving its truck due to a drug test conducted in March 2020 that came back positive for marijuana.

This imminent hazard order applies to Koboat Trucking LLC and all officers, agents, and employees of Kobalt. It also applies to all commercial motor vehicles owned or operated on Kobalt’s behalf. LL