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June 8, 2001 9:58 AM, EDT

A federal court said the inspector general of the Department of Transportation exceeded his authority by launching criminal investigations of five trucking companies that were also the focus of safety compliance reviews in 1998.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled June 5 that Kenneth M. Mead, DOT’s inspector general, exceeded his authority by launching criminal investigations of Florilli Corp., Northland Trucking, David Kistler & Grandson Trucking, Lone Wolf Transportation and K&C Transportation.

Agents of DOT’s former Office of Motor Carriers — now the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration — had already visited the companies to review their safety programs.

For the full story, see the June 11 print edition of Transport Topics. .