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Trucking Consortium Official Sentenced in Drug-Fraud Case

21 September 2000

Trucking Consortium Official Sentenced in Drug-Fraud Case

    WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 The Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration's (FMCSA) announced today that Raymond Kerr, the operator of
Kerr Transportation Services, Inc., a drug-testing consortium based in Vadnais
Heights, Minn., was sentenced and required to pay restitution for mail fraud
because he violated the U.S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT) federal
drug-testing regulations.
    "Preventing high-risk motor carriers and dangerous truck and bus drivers
from operating on the highways is important for the safety of all motorists,"
said Clyde J. Hart Jr., FMCSA acting deputy administrator.  "Ensuring that
commercial motor vehicle drivers are properly drug-tested is part of that
effort to improve safety, which is President Clinton and Vice President Gore's
highest transportation priority."
    Kerr was sentenced on Aug. 16, in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, for
defrauding hundreds of trucking companies that relied on Kerr for random drug
testing of truck drivers.  Kerr originally pleaded guilty on March 8.  He was
sentenced to four months' incarceration and 36 months' supervised release, and
also was required to pay $8,641 in restitution.
    USDOT regulations require all motor carriers to randomly test their
commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers for drugs and alcohol.  Carriers may
choose to form consortia for random drug and alcohol testing on behalf of all
drivers within the group formed.
    Kerr operated such a consortium (Kerr Transportation Services) from 1995
to 1997 and was to test approximately 1,200 drivers.  Kerr collected fees of
$33 to $55 for each participating driver, but failed to test randomly selected
drivers for drugs.  He was charged with mail fraud after he sent letters to
participating motor carriers, falsely advising them that they were in
compliance with DOT regulations.
    While conducting motor carrier compliance reviews (safety audits) in 1995
and 1996, Minnesota FMCSA safety specialists determined that carriers
contracting with Kerr Transportation Services had no records to indicate their
CMV drivers had been randomly selected for drug and alcohol testing.  Once it
was determined that a pattern of non-compliance existed, the matter was turned
over to the USDOT's Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Chicago for criminal
investigation.
    FMCSA worked in cooperation with the OIG, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), and the U.S. Attorney in Minneapolis to bring this case
to a conclusion.