4 days ago
Japan Post to lose trucking license over fake sobriety tests
In an unprecedented move, the transport ministry plans to revoke Japan Post Co.'s trucking business license over its failure to properly check on the health of its drivers, including for drunkenness.
The ministry said June 5 that statutory roll calls were conducted improperly or even falsified at more than 70 of 119 post offices that use trucks, vans and other general cargo vehicles in violation of the Trucking Business Law.
The offending post offices did not subject drivers to alcohol tests or simply pretended to have done the mandatory inspections.
The ministry plans to soon make a formal decision to revoke the trucking business license, the first such punishment for improper roll calls. Large-scale transport operators, such as Japan Post, have never had this license revoked.
Without the license, Japan Post will be unable to use its approximately 2,500 trucks and vans or gain inspections for its general cargo vehicles for five years.
The company will be forced to outsource its operations to other companies in the same industry.
Japan Post uses vans and other vehicles to collect packages at large post offices in urban areas.
Although light trucks are not covered by the license, the ministry is discussing whether to temporarily ban Japan Post's use of certain light trucks.
The number of penalty points under the law far exceeded the threshold for a revocation of the license in the jurisdiction of the ministry's Kanto District Transport Bureau.
In a notice issued on June 5, the ministry informed Japan Post of the opportunity to present its case in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Law.
'We recognize that this is an extremely serious violation of the law. As a carrier that uses public roads throughout Japan on a daily basis and is responsible for the social infrastructure of the postal and logistics business, we consider this to be a serious matter that could affect our very existence,' Japan Post said in a statement released on June 5.
'We will closely examine the details of the administrative action and its impact on customers and our business, and will promptly consider specific measures to be taken,' it said.
The ministry's regional transport bureaus and branch offices have been conducting on-site audits, giving priority to post offices that use trucks, vans and other general cargo vehicles.
In April, Japan Post released the results of a nationwide survey on the implementation of roll calls.
Of the 3,188 post offices surveyed, 2,391, or 75 percent, were found to be conducting improper roll calls.
