Changes to federal registration system aim to prevent fraud in trucking industry, Colorado inspectors say

For months, CBS has been reporting on trucking companies skirting rules to continue operating after numerous safety violations, including in Colorado.

Federal and state officials say that it can include changing names or creating shell companies.

CBS Colorado joined Colorado State Patrol's Motor Carrier Safety Unit for an inside look at what inspectors are seeing on Colorado roadways and spoke with federal officials about changes aimed at preventing this kind of fraud.

Colorado is often referred to as the crossroads of the Rockies, a designation that leads to busy roadways filled with cars and trucks carrying both families and freight.

"It's 70 feet long with the trailer, the max is 80,000 pounds," one truck driver said. "So when you load it, it is pretty heavy and pretty dangerous," one driver told CBS Colorado

With that size in mind, commercial carriers and their drivers are required to follow a strict set of federal and state regulations. Those who do not follow the rules put everyone at risk.

Colorado State Patrol Trooper Joshua Alsop runs the Motor Carrier Safety Unit along Interstate 70 in the mountains. He is among those tasked with inspecting trucks entering and leaving the state.

"Safety is my goal," Alsop said. "I want to show compliance with the regulations and make sure those trucks go down the road safely, and the motorists around them are safe as well."

With more than 2 million trucks now registered with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Alsop says inspectors are also watching for so-called "chameleon carriers," companies that change their names, DOT numbers and identities to hide poor safety records.

"If companies have a really bad safety score, insurance brokers won't really want to insure them and load brokers won't want to send their cargo via that company because there's the risk of that vehicle crashing," he said.

Nationwide, he says, there has been a spike in fraudulent companies.

"Basically, a front company gets set up, and these real companies will pay to use that DOT number, put it on the side of their vehicle, and hope that roadside inspectors like myself will put the inspection under the fake company and leave the real one alone," Alsop said.

An outdated federal registration system is partly to blame.

"We have multiple systems that don't talk well with each other," said Ken Riddle, director of registration for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. "Sometimes you'll go in one system and see the status of a DOT number, and it could be different in another system."

For the first time in decades, the FMCSA is preparing to launch a new system called MOTUS, designed to better flag inaccurate or fraudulent information.

"It's going to help, for sure," Riddle said. "When we have bad actors that should not be on the road, they are most likely not following the rules, not following regulations, and most times they are unsafe. If we can remove these bad actors and not allow them to register in the first place, and if they have registration, remove them, it will absolutely make our roads safer."

The update is part of a broader federal effort to tighten oversight of the trucking industry, including a nationwide audit of commercial driver's licenses and training facilities that impacted Colorado last fall.

"They haven't increased any regulations, just enforcing existing ones," Alsop said.

For drivers already following the rules, the crackdown is welcome.

"It's your safety," one driver said. "Because if the truck is not safe, your life is at risk."