Searched on info for the dump truck in yesterday's bus accident in NJ and it is very, very sketchy.
The company, Mendez Trucking, has had many safety violations over the years, and was involved in a NYC accident in 2011 that KILLED A FASHION STYLIST AND THE DUMP TRUCK CUT HER IN HALF.
'French fashion stylist Laurence Renard killed in horrific East Side rush-hour accident'
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/french-fashion-stylist-laurence-renard-killed-horrific-east-side-rush-hour-accident-article-1.150413
https://nypost.com/2012/01/20/suit-in-ues-drag-horror/
'School bus ripped apart in dump truck crash, killing 2'
https://www.click2houston.com/news/school-bus-ripped-apart-in-dump-truck-crash-killing-2
The front end of the red dump truck was mangled in the wreck, which took place about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of New York. The truck was registered to Mendez Trucking, of Belleville, and had "In God We Trust" emblazoned on the back of it.
Police didn't release details of how the crash happened, but the trucking company had a string of crashes in recent years and a higher than average rate of violations that sidelined its vehicles, according to federal safety data.
Mendez Trucking has about 40 drivers and trucks, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Its trucks had been in seven crashes during the last two years before Thursday's crash, according to FMCSA. None of them was fatal. Messages left with the company weren't returned.
Mendez has a higher than average vehicle out-of-service rate, which means inspections found violations which had to be corrected before the vehicle could be returned to service. Mendez's rate was 37.9 percent, according to FMCSA. The national average is 20.7.
"It's an alarmingly high accident rate for such a small, little fleet," said trucking safety expert Paul Herbert, who runs the Western Motor Carrier Safety Institute in California. "These (previous accidents) should be eye-openers for the company, for them to say, `hey, we need to do something before the big one happens.' Sadly, it looks like maybe it has."
A Mendez-owned dump truck driven by a driver police say had a suspended license struck and killed a French fashion stylist in Manhattan in January 2011, according to court records. Laurence Renard was severed in half by the truck, which was hauling tons of material for the Second Avenue Subway project.
Herbert said the company had poor marks across the board, from maintenance to safe driving. He said the out-of-service rate "speaks volumes as to the adequacy of their safety management program."
Mendez trucks have racked up more than 130 violations in the last two years, according to FMCSA, including 27 for excessive weight, 17 for leaking, spilling or falling cargo and four speeding violations – three of them this year.
Mendez was fined $22,850 in 2016 for violating regulations on inspections, repairs and maintenance and post-crash drug and alcohol testing, according to the FMCSA.
Looking for the ownership…