PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The owner of a now-defunct commercial trucking company admitted to a federal court judge in Providence that he altered thousands of electronic entries in service logbooks for approximately 20 drivers to conceal the drivers’ actual drive time and on-duty time, according to an Oct. 28 announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Damir Sisic, 29, of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, owner of now-defunct Sisic Transport Service LLC (STS), admitted that he routinely altered data collected by onboard electronic data-gathering devices installed in his trucks that reflected the actual number of hours his drivers operated the vehicles.
U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) regulations, enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), a division of the USDOT, require accurate record keeping and operational requirements, including records related to drivers’ actual hours of service.
Sisic owned approximately 11 commercial truck tractors and ten box-style commercial trailers, and employed between seven and 10 drivers at a time. Each vehicle was equipped with an electronic logging device (ELD) that recorded the location of each truck, and the start and stop time of each vehicle. Sisic admitted that he accessed and altered that data on thousands of occasions. He admitted that he routinely concealed from the USDOT and FMCSA that his drivers were routinely exceeding the maximum number of driving hours and on-duty hours without the required off-duty hours.
According to court documents, Sisic provided altered driving records to a state trooper who was investigating the crash of an STS truck that occurred in Oklahoma on April 22, 2018, resulting in the death of the driver. In addition, Sisic provided altered driving records for numerous STS drivers to an FMCSA investigator during a compliance review.
Sisic pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence to conspiracy to falsify records, announced U.S. Attorney Aaron L. Weisman and Special Agent in Charge Douglas Shoemaker, U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Northeast Region.
Sisic is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy on Jan. 7, 2021. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ly T. Chin.
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
This is the type of character that every driver should be willing to report. But sadly some drivers think that being able to drive over hours and for prolonged periods of time are succeeding in life. No, they are risking their health and their safety. And there is a good chance that this owner was pocketing more and paying them less.
The owner will get slapped on the hand you watch see !! WE DONT CARE ABOUT THE DRIVERS DEATH !!
If we are truck drivets whetre do we report this type of issue to osha or dot?
If you have a complaint you can report it to your local Department of Transportation and/or the local OSHA office. Believe me they will look into your complaint.
My last carrier prohibited any driver to report over hours to anyone. I drove usually 2,000 per week and whenever I tried to shut down for my 10, I’d get a message to keep driving. “You can sleep all you want to when you’re dead, KEEP moving. NOW)! If I disregarded this message, I was threatened with dismissal on the spot no matter which state or country I happened to be in.
You should quit this company, there are hundreds of companies out here that treat drivers with the respect you all deserve.