U.S. Dept of Transportation Orders Kenyan-Owned Transport Company to Shut Down

Dennis Mekenye poses for a photo outside one of the trucks owned by his company

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ordered Texas-based Dennis Mekenye, doing business as Demco Express and Demco Trans Inc. to immediately cease all transportation services based on serious safety violations that posed an imminent hazard to public safety.

FMCSA uncovered multiple federal safety violations in the areas of drivers' hours-of-service compliance, driver qualifications and drug testing requirements.

Safety investigators discovered that the company falsified drivers' records of duty status, allowed its drivers to operate with commercial driver's licenses that had been suspended, revoked or disqualified and did not conduct proper controlled substances testing of its drivers. In addition, within the last 12 months, 10 of Demco's drivers have been placed out of service for not being licensed to drive. At the time of the investigation, one Demco driver was driving with at least four active suspensions on his license.

"Safety cannot be compromised," says FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. "Adhere to the safety regulations, or you will be shut down."

Dennis Mekenye, a native of Kenya, started the transport company in 2004 and saw the business grow to include over 50 transport trucks and over 80 employees (Read More: A Kenyan Living The American Dream in Texas).

One of his drivers has been detained in a Mexican jail since April after he drove a truck containing 268,000 rounds of ammunition into Mexico. DEMCO and the driver says the ammunition were destined for three companies in El Paso, Texas, and that the driver made a wrong turn and found himself in Mexico  (Read More: A Kenyan-Owned Truck Detained in Mexico With 268,000 Rounds of Ammo After Driver Makes Wrong Turn).