A Georgia trucking company owner recently pleaded guilty to fraud and falsifying records.
On April 11, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Roderick Billingslea pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of falsification of records in a federal investigation. Billingslea was indicted in February.
The investigation revealed that Billingslea defraud the Small Business Administration by using false statements and fraudulent pretenses related to a loan/grant request for CARES Act funds. As a result, Billingslea wrongfully received $564,363.
Billingslea also knowingly made false statements to FMCSA on Form MCSA-1, which is required to operate a motor carrier entity. After FMCSA ordered Billingslea to cease operation for willful violations, the defendant reincarnated numerous motor carriers he owned, including E-Cargo, Hidden Valley Transportation, US Transport, Midwest Express, and Dispatch USA, to bypass federal regulations and laws.
Department of Transportation's Office of the Inspector General is conducting this investigation with the SBA-OIG and the Secret Service.
ABF Freight wins 10th security award
ArcBest announced recently that its LTL carrier ABF Freight has won the American Trucking Associations distinguished Excellence in Security award once again.
ABF is the only LTL carrier to receive this award 10 times. ABF also received the Excellence in Security award in 2019, 2016, 2015, 2011, 2009, 2007, 2005, 2004 and 2001.
In recent years, the company has made strategic decisions and investments to enhance ABF’s security capabilities and further reinforce ITS commitment to continuous improvement and innovation in security, including:
- Creating specialized roles for investigations, secure operations, security technology, compliance and liability, and engineering and data science
- Splitting ABF Safety and Security into two separate areas, allowing for team growth and enabling a deeper focus on initiatives through more specialized expertise — better aligning with company goals and allowing our Security and Investigations Department to concentrate efforts on enhancing security initiatives across ABF’s network of 240 service centers
Recent security initiatives at ABF service centers include testing and installing exterior deterrent solutions, internally developing and implementing a closed-circuit television (CCTV) platform to improve surveillance visibility, piloting thermal cameras, improving yard lighting, building solar lighting systems to supplement existing light sources, and developing more robust reporting procedures to increase awareness and enable more efficient investigations. The company also conducts regular, mandatory training on security-related topics and internal policies.
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