Owner of semi that caused 14-car crash has history of violations
SEATTLE -- The company that owns the semi truck that triggered Wednesday's massive crash on Interstate 90 has a history of violations with the state, KOMO News has learned.
According to the Washington State Patrol, the semi truck owned by AP Transport in Blaine started the chain-reaction 14-vehicle crash. A 9-year-old girl was critically injured and six others were hurt in the pileup.
Mike Mullins was driving the logging truck that was hit first.
"The other truck? Yeah, I remember him going way too fast for the traffic that was stopped in front of him," Mullins said. "All I seen was him come to the left a little bit as I was going by. And then I felt him hit me."
Investigators won't talk specifically about this crash. But in general, they said the company's safety history also plays a role in addition to what they'll find at the scene.
"In determining whether or not they have a history or maintenance issues or driver issues," said Det. Greg Wilcoxson of Washington State Patrol.
The inspection records for AP Transport showed a fairly high record of defective vehicles; 42 percent of them had been pulled from service.
State records showed the state patrol has conducted 52 random inspections on AP vehicles. Of those, AP had 24 maintenance violations, including seven problems with the brakes and four tire violations all serious enough that the state took an AP truck out of service 24 times, or 42 percent of the time.
Attorney Tony Shapiro, who has extensive experience in commercial vehicle crash cases, said the numbers indicate a problem.
"When you have 42 percent of your vehicles pulled out of service for safety issues and maintenance issues, that tells you that something is not being done right," said Shapiro.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Transportation gave AP Transport an 84.7 percent overall safety rating, but the best records should be between 1 and 20 percent.
"That's a very concerning number," Shapiro said.
KOMO News tried numerous times to contact AP Transport, but the company has not returned any calls.
According to the Washington State Patrol, the semi truck owned by AP Transport in Blaine started the chain-reaction 14-vehicle crash. A 9-year-old girl was critically injured and six others were hurt in the pileup.
Mike Mullins was driving the logging truck that was hit first.
"The other truck? Yeah, I remember him going way too fast for the traffic that was stopped in front of him," Mullins said. "All I seen was him come to the left a little bit as I was going by. And then I felt him hit me."
Investigators won't talk specifically about this crash. But in general, they said the company's safety history also plays a role in addition to what they'll find at the scene.
"In determining whether or not they have a history or maintenance issues or driver issues," said Det. Greg Wilcoxson of Washington State Patrol.
The inspection records for AP Transport showed a fairly high record of defective vehicles; 42 percent of them had been pulled from service.
State records showed the state patrol has conducted 52 random inspections on AP vehicles. Of those, AP had 24 maintenance violations, including seven problems with the brakes and four tire violations all serious enough that the state took an AP truck out of service 24 times, or 42 percent of the time.
Attorney Tony Shapiro, who has extensive experience in commercial vehicle crash cases, said the numbers indicate a problem.
"When you have 42 percent of your vehicles pulled out of service for safety issues and maintenance issues, that tells you that something is not being done right," said Shapiro.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Transportation gave AP Transport an 84.7 percent overall safety rating, but the best records should be between 1 and 20 percent.
"That's a very concerning number," Shapiro said.
KOMO News tried numerous times to contact AP Transport, but the company has not returned any calls.
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