Westfield Transport, the defunct Massachusetts trucking company linked to a June 2019 New Hampshire crash that killed seven motorcyclists, did not perform a required background check of 24-year-old driver Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, who awaits trial on several charges including manslaughter, negligent homicide and driving under the influence.
The company did not review Zhukovskyy’s driver history and safety performance, or complete a qualification checklist required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA). When the company first hired Zhukovskyy, a West Springfield resident who was arrested on a drunk driving charge in Connecticut just weeks earlier, Westfield Transport did not maintain a drug testing program for commercial drivers as required by FMCSA.
Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, of West Springfield, appears in Springfield District Court on Monday. (Don Treeger / The Republican)
Westfield Transport only sought to add Zhukovskyy to its insurance policy about an hour after his pickup truck crossed the center lane on U.S. Highway 2 in Randolph, New Hampshire, and crashed into six motorcycles, according to National Transportation Safety Board investigators.
“They basically had nothing,” Michael Fox, an NTSB highway accident investigator, told board members in a public hearing on Tuesday. Essentially “everything” was missing from Zhukovskyy’s file when it comes to required safety protocols, Fox noted.
After an in-depth review by NTSB investigators, who are preparing a report and recommendations to help improve safety in the wake of the crash, NTSB members sharply criticized Westfield Transport and FMCSA for severe lapses in oversight and the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles for systemic administrative failures.
“Not only did the RMV drop the ball, but FMCSA has missed the point as well,” Robert Sumwalt, NTSB chairman, said. He added that Westfield Transport “had nothing except for an unsafe safety culture.”
The NTSB unanimously found the probable cause of the crash was that Zhukovskyy, impaired with both morphine and heroin in his system at the time, crossed over into the oncoming motorcyclists. Neither distracted driving due to a cellphone or other device, nor road and weather conditions, played a role in the crash, NTSB found.
This photo provided by Miranda Thompson shows the scene where several motorcycles and a pickup truck collided on a rural, two-lane highway Friday, June 21, 2019 in Randolph, N.H. (Miranda Thompson via AP)AP
The group also found that broad deficiencies in RMV processing of out-of-state notifications and other administrative failures allowed Zhukovskyy, and more than 5,000 other drivers, to retain their Massachusetts licenses despite several violations on record.
The NTSB found that FMCSA fails to consistently issue imminent hazard orders against unsafe drivers and companies. NTSB described the shutdown orders as an effective tool that can block unsafe drivers and carriers from resuming operations under another outfit, a process dubbed “reincarnation.” Over the last few years, NTSB said FMCSA had only issued a handful of such orders, compared to hundreds of times under the Obama administration.
NTSB also called for added layers of oversight, including more on-site inspections and compliance reviews, of recent graduates of FMCSA’s new entrant safety assurance program. Companies like Westfield Transport may enter and complete the program with vehicles that don’t require commercial drivers licenses and drug test programs, but may add to their fleet and fly under the radar without updating safety standards, NTSB said.
“FMCSA must take steps to identify and prevent fraud ... and address the issue of reincarnated carriers,” member Jennifer Homendy said, noting the Department of Transportation inspector general highlighted similar concerns in an investigation more than 20 years ago. “This is not a new issue.”
MassLive reached out to FMCSA seeking comment in response to NTSB’s findings and recommendations of greater oversight. The Department of Transportation responded in an email that did not answer specific questions but provided a link to publicly available inspection reports and a safety profile of Westfield Transport.
Records from the FMCSA show Westfield Transport had faced various violations between 2017 and 2019, including two instances where drivers were in possession of narcotics.
The NTSB unanimously found that Westfield Transport displayed a “substantial disregard for federal safety regulations” and that the former company’s “egregious noncompliance and its actions to conceal its deceptive practices indicate a motor carrier without regard to safety.”
Board member Michael Graham noted that Zhukovskyy worked for the company uninsured until after the crash. NTSB’s investigation revealed that Westfield Transport, in an email about an hour after the collision, asked an insurance broker to add the driver to the company’s policy.
The NTSB also wants more answers on electronic logging devices (ELDs), particularly those made by KeepTruckin, Inc., used by about 250,000 drivers among 55,000 fleets, according to investigators. KeepTruckin, whose devices were used by Westfield Transport, did not cooperate with investigators, NTSB said.
Westfield Transport illegally falsified 28 logs in vehicles’ ELDs, investigators found, prompting NTSB board members to recommend that FMCSA strengthen its requirements for reviewing and approving ELDs used by trucking companies.
Fox said it’s fairly common for companies to circumvent hours of service requirements, including by disconnecting ELDs, which are supposed to prompt a diagnostic record identifiable by roadside inspectors or law enforcement. But investigators found that Westfield Transport had been hit with four times the national average of hours of service violations, and received only one FMCSA warning letter and no compliance review until after the crash.
Graham said FMCSA’s review process for ELDs was “perilously close to very little or no certification” at all. “It works and it works because I say it works. That’s not a very robust system.”
Arthur Grey, a technical and compliance support specialist at KeepTruckin, told MassLive on Tuesday that anytime a driver “wants to physically and intentionally cheat his log books,” a direct notification is sent to an administrator noting time, location and odometer readings.
“The only thing we’re doing is providing services to our customers,” he added. “How they use or misuse it is totally up to them.”
Most carriers “absolutely” complete the required steps when hiring drivers, Fox, the NTSB accident investigator, noted.
“If (Westfield Transport) contacted the previous motor carrier the driver worked for ... they would have learned the driver had a rollover crash just days before he started working at Westfield,” Fox said. “All safe, well-intentioned motor carriers will, at a minimum, find out everything they can on the last employer the driver had and ascertain those records ... so they have a very clear picture of a driver’s safety performance.”
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