OVERSIGHT OR ARRESTS?

WHICH IS THE GREATER DETERRENT AGAINST HIGHWAY HIJACKERS?


The Department of Transportation (DOT) inherited the oversight of the moving industry as a result of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) Termination Act of 1995 (the Act). Until the enactment of this law sunsetting the Commission, the ICC issued and enforced consumer protection regulations.The 1995 Termination Act encouraged consumers to resolve household goods disputes through arbitration or by bringing a civil action in a court of appropriate jurisdiction.

In essence, the ICC Termination Act ended the Federal government's role in resolving household goods disputes.

In August 2005, the enactment of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) further required DOT to make data available to the public so that they could make better consumer choices.

In addition to consumer outreach and education, DOT emphasized that enforcement is a key tool in eliminating unscrupulous movers from the moving industry.

This is important and I quote from DOT's own website:

"As required by SAFETEA-LU, FMCSA has been working with Federal, State, and local household goods enforcement agencies to better coordinate investigations, to optimize our resources, and to achieve the most effective enforcement results."

Now when DOT praises its own "enforcement" record it is not referring to "enforcement" as a typical layman or more importantly as a victim of Highway Hijacking might understand that term. Enforcement to DOT, is a term used to measure the amount of "reviews" against movers and claims and fines levied against movers.

So,to simplify the meaning of this vague, discombobulated jargon used by Govt
Agencies,one might compare it to the reporting of crimes in a typical town,village or county in a U.S. state. Take for example the statistics on the crime of rape in one of these cities.

Let's say a medium size town claims they have stepped up "enforcement" by investigating more rape cases and bringing more "civil suits" against perpetrators.

Does that make a woman feel more secure when they walk down a dark street at night?

Of course not.

Investigations of Household Goods movers and bringing more civil claims or arbitrations, by the same token does not make a consumer feel any more confidence in choosing and contracting with a mover for their planned Interstate move.

DOT is playing games with the term "enforcement" and they know it!

Enforcement, without arrests during the commission of a crime is just so much bureaucratic HOGWASH.