UPS settles out of court after four-year vehicle safety probe

UPS has agreed to pay a $1.3m fine following a four-year legal dispute over the safety of its vehicle fleet in the US state of New York. The company was investigated by the state’s attorney general, Eric T Schneiderman, who said yesterday that his probe had found UPS mechanics to be inspecting and passing vehicles that were “in serious disrepair”.

After agreeing to pay out of court, UPS said yesterday that its settlement was a “business decision” to avoid continuing costs in the investigation, and that it “neither admits nor denies the allegations”.

Nevertheless, as well as the settlement payment it has agreed to step up its vehicle inspections, and will be allowing an independent inspector appointed by New York State to check out trucks in service in the state over the next five years.

Schneiderman said: “UPS knowingly endangered not only the lives of their own employees but the lives of the driving public.

“By keeping these rotting and decaying trucks on the roadways, UPS was an accident waiting to happen, and this office has zero tolerance for anyone who knowingly poses a serious and significant risk to New Yorkers,” added the state’s attorney general.

Probe

The four-year probe into UPS vehicle conditions in New York State was sparked by complaints from a company mechanic that four package delivery vehicles found with cracked frames had been kept in service by UPS without repair.

The attorney general’s office looked into the allegations, finding in 2004 that at least 23 delivery trucks in upstate New York had been found by UPS staff to have “cracked” or “rotted” frames, but none of these vehicles were withdrawn from service.

Although UPS has an annual vetting process to review its truck fleet and retire vehicles no longer seen as safe, the New York State investigation suggested that the trucks with cracked frames had been kept in service for up to two years without repairs to the frames.

In 2005, the state investigation found that 106 delivery trucks in the UPS fleet across the state had been identified by UPS supervisors as having “frame cracks” or “needing complete frame assembly”.

Settlement

Under the agreed settlement, UPS will now pay for a state inspector to check all its vehicles within New York State for three years. For two further years, the state inspector will carry out spot checks of UPS trucks.

UPS has also agreed to pay penalties for any future violations, starting with a $500 fine for the first violation within a one-year period, rising to $10,000 per violation after its fourth transgression in a one-year period.

In a statement issued yesterday, UPS spokesman Norman Black insisted that the company maintained “one of the safest fleets in the industry”.

He said the settlement with New York State did not reflect on the safety of its automotive fleet in upstate New York or elsewhere in the US.

Black claimed that independent experts had concluded during the investigation period that the UPS fleet was “safe in all respects”, and that an investigation by a safety inspector from the US Department of Transportation had found no violations in the safety of delivery vehicle frames.

“There has never been an accident or injury relating in any way to the allegations made by the New York attorney general,” the UPS spokesman said.

“To even suggest that UPS would knowingly endanger the lives of its employees or driving public is untrue and was not substantiated by any evidence in this case. UPS has agreed to comply with additional inspection requirements in New York because of its commitment to safety.”