TRUCKING FIRM PRESIDENT HANDED 15 MONTHS IN TANKER-EXPLOSION DEATH

USDOT Office of the Inspector General
April 13, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 13, 2000
Contact: Jeff Nelligan
OIG Communications
Telephone: (202) 366-6312
http://www.oig.dot.gov
OIG 2-00

The former president of an Orange County, Calif., trucking firm was sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in federal prison for violating regulations in an incident that caused the death of a man hired to weld a gasoline tanker, the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General said today.

Carl Bradley Johansson, 41, of Newport Beach, Calif., had pleaded guilty to violating federal regulations relating to transportation of hazardous materials. Specifically, he violated a ban on repair of gasoline cargo tankers at facilities lacking special permits. Johansson’s firm, which held no proper permit, had hired a welder to work on such a tanker. On Sept. 27, 1993, while the work was under way, the tank exploded, killing the welder.

Johansson, sentenced April 7, 2000 by a U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles, had pleaded guilty in March 1999 to two counts of conspiracy to violate federal hazardous-materials laws and to one count of violating the regulations. He also separately pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate federal limits on the number of hours truck drivers can remain behind the wheel without rest.

The investigation of the case was conducted by a task force including the California Highway Patrol, the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Motor Carriers (now the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) and the FBI.