March 28, 2002

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today announced that it has fined two for-hire motor carriers hauling primarily household goods from New York State and one household goods broker from Florida.

Eilid Moving & Storage Inc. (Eilid) and On Budget Van Lines, Inc. (On Budget) both of Richmond Hill, NY, and National Moving Network, Inc. (NMN) of Miami, FL were served with notice of claim letters to initiate enforcement action for violations of the Federal Motor Carrier Commercial Regulations (FMCCR). The carriers and broker were assessed civil penalties of $61,000, $58,500 and $6,000 respectively.

Eilid was cited for violations including failing to publish a tariff, failing to participate in a dispute settlement program, failing to follow loss and damage claims procedures, failing to provide the required consumer information "Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move," failing to retain copies of estimates, failing to properly prepare bills of lading, and operating a charge card plan without a tariff provision.

On Budget was cited for violations including failing to publish a tariff, operating without legal authority, failing to participate in a dispute settlement program, failing to provide the required consumer information, "Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move," failing to retain copies of estimates, failing to properly prepare bills of lading, requiring shippers to sign documents releasing the carrier from its liability, failing to have a copy of all active agency agreements, and operating a charge card plan without a tariff provision.

National Moving Network, a household goods broker, was cited for violations involving failing to disclose its broker status in advertising and representing its operations to be that of a motor carrier.

The motor carriers and broker will have the opportunity to contest the alleged violations and the amount of the penalties in an agency proceeding.

These investigations were a result of consumer complaints received by FMCSA.

Consumers may file household goods or other commercial motor carrier complaints on FMCSA's nationwide complaint hotline at 1-888-368-7238 (1-888 DOT-SAFT). To further protect consumers, a commercial complaint form is now available on The Safety Violation and the Consumer household Goods Commercial Complaint Website Hotline at http://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov .

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