Penske Truck Leasing Co. will pay up to a $3.5 million civil penalty for alleged fraudulent safety and emissions inspections on fleet trucks and trucks it rented for commercial use.
According to Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, the settlement with Penske, and six of its inspectors, is for allegedly issuing passing inspection certificates on 189 heavy-duty trucks. Most of the inspections took place at its New Bedford facility.
Penske has admitted no wrongdoing and maintains that its inspections were “properly and safely conducted.” In a statement, the company said it disagrees with the attorney general’s interpretation of the law and the facts. The firm says the dispute involved a disagreement over “what the state’s remote inspection camera monitoring system technology was able to capture during inspections, and not whether the inspections took place.”
Penske said it elected to settle this dispute to avoid the time, distraction and expense of litigation.
Campbell said the failures are violations of the Massachusetts Clean Air Act’s Motor Vehicle Inspection Program, the Massachusetts Inspection and Maintenance Act and the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act.
“By issuing inspection certificates without ensuring that the critical safety and emissions components of these trucks were actually working, Penske put the health and safety of the public and Penske’s drivers at significant risk,” said Campbell. “The fraudulent emissions inspections also risked potential environmental harm to New Bedford and its nearby communities.
Under the consent judgment, Penske is required to pay $3 million up front, and another $500,000 if it does not provide enhanced training for inspectors at the New Bedford facility and hire a third-party to perform audits of its mobile vehicle inspections for six months.
The six inspectors who conducted the disputed inspections are barred from performing motor vehicle inspections indefinitely.
According to a lawsuit brought by the Attorney General’s Office in 2021, the inspectors failed to inspect brakes, the fifth wheel (which connects the trailer to the cab of the truck), and tire and wheel components. Some inspection videos show that during the fraudulent inspections, the inspector did not go under the vehicle, which the lawsuit said is necessary to view these components to determine if they are functioning properly.
Additionally, the state maintains that the trucks should have undergone smoke opacity testing, which measures the density of black smoke in a vehicle’s exhaust. But, according to the complaint, the Penske inspectors used a variety of illegal methods to falsify passing results.
Topics Auto Fraud Massachusetts
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