By Tom Davies
Indiana Capital Chronicle
A key state legislator says he’s ready to push a crackdown on so-called chameleon trucking companies that’s been championed by Republican secretary of state candidate Max Engling
The issue has been a lead talking point of Engling’s campaign in which he’s raised concerns about trucking businesses that register with the secretary of state’s office but later shut down and reregister under new names when they face safety investigations.
House Roads and Transportation Committee Chair Jim Pressel joined Engling at a Statehouse news conference Tuesday, saying such businesses organize as limited liability corporations and exist “for a moment in time” until safety officials start closing in.
We’ve got great logistics companies
“We’ve got great logistics companies. We’ve got great motor carriers,” said Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie. “But what we don’t have is a mechanism to identify these chameleon carriers.”
Crashes involving semis driven by foreign-born drivers have often drawn attention, leading to Indiana and other states adopting tougher commercial driver licensing requirements.
Pressel authored legislation approved earlier this year that imposes felonies and fines on improperly credentialed truck drivers and tightens employer and training‑school penalties. That bill cleared the Legislature with nearly unanimous approval.
Engling said the secretary of state’s office needs
Engling said the secretary of state’s office needs to implement systems to detect suspicious business filings, such as multiple registrations from the same home address.
“We know that there are problems like that that need to be further investigated and potentially prosecuted,” Engling said. “But part of the issue is that we don’t have a clear idea to the magnitude of the issue.”
The other secretary of state candidates haven’t emphasized the fraudulent business filings crackdown as Engling has.
Democratic candidate Beau Bayh said in a statement
Democratic candidate Beau Bayh said in a statement that “of course I agree there’s no room for fraud in our business filings. But it’s important to remember these filings are public.”
“If fraud is occurring, why isn’t it already being investigated?” he said. “This complacency is what happens when the same group of insiders controls our state government for 20 years. It’s clear it’s time for a change.”
Pressel said the secretary of state’s business registry should be connected with the state Department of Revenue, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the state police to spot fraudulent trucking companies.
Another step Pressel mentioned was possibly requiring those
Another step Pressel mentioned was possibly requiring those companies to have physical operations in the state rather than just a mailing address.
Pressel said he was glad Engling was emphasizing the issue.
“I think he’s on the same page with me as we need to identify those folks and then create that portal to where it goes straight to the Department of Revenue that handles mobile carrier services,” Pressel said.
This story has been updated with comment from Democratic candidate Beau Bayh.
