COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA · COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v/ PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Bureau of Transportation and Safety v. Donald A. Fix,

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIAv/

PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION

Pennsylvania Public U t i l i t y Commission Bureau of Transpo r t a t i o n and Safety v. Donald A. Fix, J r . , t/a Hindman Moving & Storaae, Various v i o l a t i o n s .

I n i t i a l and f u r t h e r hearings

Docket No. A^001>2:4;4TC 0 4 02 A-00112441C0507 A-00112441C0601 A-00112441C0602

Pages 1 through 17

DOCUMENT n

Hearing Room No. 2 300 L i b e r t y Avenue Pittsburgh,.Pennsylvania

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Met, pursuant t o n o t i c e , at 10:55 a.m.

BEFORE:

MICHAEL A. NEMEC, A d m i n i s t r a t i v e Law Judge

APPEARANCES:

R.K. SMITH, JR., -Esquire Pennsylvania Public U t i l i t y Commission Law Bureau P.O. Box 3265 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105-3265

(For the Complainant)

LOUIS W. EMMI, Esquire 201 Lebanon Shops 300 Mount Lebanon Boulevard P i t t s b u r g h , Pennsylvania 15234

(For the Respondent)

"Aim i o 7nnR

Commonwealth Reporting Company, Inc. 700Lisburn Road

Camp Hill, Pennsylvania 17011

(717) 761-7150 1-800-334-1063

WITNESSES

(None.)

WITNESS INDEX

DIRECT CROSS REDIRECT RECROSS

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EXHIBIT INDEX

NUMBER

Bureau of Transportation and Safety

1 C e r t i f i c a t i o n of complaints, f i n e s , and r e s o l u t i o n s

FOR FOR IDENTIFICATION EVIDENCE

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Any reproduction of t h i s t r a n s c r i p t i s p r o h i b i t e d without a u t h o r i z a t i o n

by the c e r t i f y i n g r e p o r t e r .

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P R O C E E D I N G S

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE MICHAEL A. NEMEC: This

morning we have an i n i t i a l hearing i n fou r complaint

proceedings i n i t i a t e d by the Commission's Bureau of

Transportation and Safety. The lead document i s

A-00112441C0402 and f o l l o w i n g are C0507, C0601, and C0602.

Present i n the hearing room f o r the Bureau of

Transportation and Safety i s Attorney R.K. Smith, Jr.

Present on behalf of the respondent, Donald A. Fix, J r . ,

t r a d i n g as Hindman Moving & Storage, i s Attorney Louis D.

Emmi.

My name i s Michael Nemec. I'm an a d m i n i s t r a t i v e law

judge w i t h the Pennsylvania Public U t i l i t y Commission. I've

been assigned t o conduct the i n i t i a l hearing i n these

complaint proceedings.

P r i o r t o going on the record, counsel advised t h a t

they have, i n essence, a settlement on a l l f o u r cases, and

they've i n d i c a t e d the desire t h a t the four d i f f e r e n t dockets

be consolidated i n t o one proceeding. That w i l l be done,

assuming t h a t i t works out t o be an appropriate way t o

handle t h i s matter.

Who wants t o go f i r s t ?

MR. SMITH: Lou, do you want to? Well, we have

admissions on a l l four cases. Do we want t o go case by

case?

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JUDGE NEMEC: Excuse me. I t would make sense, i f

we're going t o go through each one of these, t h a t we take

them i n some s o r t of order and do one at a time other than

t r y t o put them a l l together.

MR. EMMI: Judge, i f I might make a suggestion, we

would be w i l l i n g t o s t i p u l a t e t o various v i o l a t i o n s i n those

complaints. I f the Court would l i k e , we would s t i p u l a t e t o

the amount o f the f i n a l f i n e , unless the Court would l i k e us

to go through each and every l i n e item. I mean, we would

s t i p u l a t e t h a t the f i n d i n g s we have reached on each separate

complaint, which Mr. Smith could read i n t o the record, would

be agreed upon by the respondent today.

MR. SMITH: For i n s t a n c e — We're o f f the record?

JUDGE NEMEC: No, we're not o f f the record r i g h t now.

We're s t i l l on the record. But do you want t o go o f f the

record?

MR. SMITH: Just t o discuss how we want t o put the

settlement on the record. Your Honor.

JUDGE NEMEC: Let's go o f f the record.

(Discussion held o f f the record.)

JUDGE NEMEC: Back on the record. We're going t o deal

f i r s t w i t h the complaint t h a t ' s docketed a t C0402. Go

ahead, Mr. Smith.

MR. SMITH: Yes, Your Honor. I n the BTS complaint at

CO402 the respondent i s a d m i t t i n g t o a l l the v i o l a t i o n s i n

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the complaint from paragraphs 4 through paragraph 17 w i t h

the exceptions of paragraph 8(a) i s being withdrawn by the

Law Bureau. So w i t h t h a t exception -- and paragraph 12(a)

i s being withdrawn — a l l other counts i n t h a t complaint are

to be admitted by the respondent w i t h an agreed upon f i n e by

the p a r t i e s of $6,400.

JUDGE NEMEC: Has he sta t e d your agreement c o r r e c t l y ?

MR. EMMI: That i s c o r r e c t , Your Honor.

JUDGE NEMEC: Go ahead.

MR. SMITH: Then we're going. Your Honor, t o the C0507

complaint w i t h two counts being admitted t o by the

respondent at paragraph 4 and paragraph 5 f o r a t o t a l agreed

upon c i v i l penalty of $750 plus agreed upon $50 refund t o

the gentleman named i n the complaint.

MR. EMMI: That i s c o r r e c t . Your Honor.

JUDGE NEMEC: Thank you.

MR. SMITH: The 0601 becomes easier. Your Honor. The

Law Bureau i s withdrawing the C0601 complaint i n i t s

e n t i r e t y .

L a s t l y , the complaint at C0602, Your Honor, I b e l i e v e

i t ' s probably j u s t as easy t o go t h r o u g h — The f i n e agreed

upon by the p a r t i e s or the c i v i l penalty on 0602 w i l l be the

sum of $2,350.

I t h i n k I need t o go through each one i n t h i s . I t ' s

j u s t as simple. Paragraph 4 i s admitted by the respondent;

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paragraph 5, v i o l a t i o n s are admitted; paragraph 6 i s being

withdrawn by the Law Bureau; paragraph 7 i s being withdrawn;

paragraph 8(a) i s admitted by the respondent; and paragraph

8(b) i s being withdrawn; paragraph 9, Your Honor, withdrawn;

paragraph 10, withdrawn; paragraph 11, withdrawn. Paragraph

12, the respondent i s a d m i t t i n g t o both v i o l a t i o n s i n

subparagraph (a) and (b ) ; paragraph (c) i s admitted by the

company.

JUDGE NEMEC: I'm sorry? Paragraph (c)?

MR. SMITH: (c) i s admitted by the c a r r i e r .

JUDGE NEMEC: I have 12(a) and (b) , but I don't have a

12(c) .

MR. SMITH: I'm sorr y . There's no 12(c). I might

have misstated. T h i r t e e n i s admitted. Fourteen i s

admitted. So a t o t a l 2,350 f o r the 0602 complaint, 6,400

f o r the 0402 complaint, 750 f o r the 0507 complaint f o r a

t o t a l of $9,500 t o be the agreed upon f i n e f o r these three

complaints w i t h 0601 being withdrawn i n i t s e n t i r e t y .

Lou, were there any other refunds?

JUDGE NEMEC: Hold on a second. Mr. Emmi, do you

agree w i t h the statements thus far?

MR. EMMI: I do. Your Honor.

JUDGE NEMEC: Go ahead.

MR. SMITH: Besides the refund t h a t was mentioned,

were there any other refunds involved?

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MR. EMMI: I don't r e c a l l any refunds involved.

However, i f , i n f a c t , there are any refunds due, the

respondent w i l l i nform the Court at t h i s p o i n t t h a t they

w i l l make those refunds and provide the proper

documentation.

MR. SMITH: One of the steps i n a settlement i s the

Commission i s always i n t e r e s t e d i n the compliance h i s t o r y ,

which i s improving by the company. I have one document

which incorporates BTS complaints i n i t i a t e d , f i n e s paid,

r e s o l u t i o n s of various complaints over the l a s t three t o

four years, and I t h i n k t h a t should be put i n the record.

My copy, BTS Number 1, i s a c e r t i f i c a t i o n from Secretary

McNulty at the Commission.

MR. EMMI: We'll s t i p u l a t e t o the a u t h e n t i c i t y of t h a t

document. Your Honor.

JUDGE NEMEC: You do not obje c t t o i t s a d m i s s i b i l i t y ?

MR. EMMI: I do not at t h i s p a r t i c u l a r time.

(Whereupon, the document was marked as BTS E x h i b i t No.

1 f o r i d e n t i f i c a t i o n . )

MR. SMITH: Under the Rossi considerations. Your

Honor, the Commission i s very i n t e r e s t e d i n a plan being

proposed by the c a r r i e r as t o how they plan t o deal w i t h

f u t u r e v i o l a t i o n s or a plan t h a t w i l l help e l i m i n a t e f u t u r e

v i o l a t i o n s .

Mr. Emmi, we discussed t h i s matter l a s t week, and I ' l l

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l e t him go forward w i t h what the plan w i l l be h o p e f u l l y t h a t

i s going, i n the plans and the changes being made by the

company t o t r y t o b r i n g t h e i r company i n t o more compliance.

But Mr. Emmi w i l l take care of t h a t .

JUDGE NEMEC: F i r s t of a l l , BTS E x h i b i t 1 i s admitted.

(Whereupon, the document marked as BTS E x h i b i t No. 1

was received i n evidence.)

JUDGE NEMEC: Go ahead, s i r .

MR. EMMI: Thank you, Your Honor. Your Honor, as you

w i l l note, you see a large packet i n f r o n t of you of

d i f f e r e n t complaints as f i l e d by the Commission over the

years of Hindman Moving & Storage.

Hindman Moving & Storage has moved i n t o a new era w i t h

new people t a k i n g over the company. The person t h a t was i n

charge has since stepped aside. A l o t of f a m i l y members

were involved here. David Fix, who i s here p r e s e n t l y today,

i s t a k i n g the company over from Donald Fix and has done much

w i t h Paul Skalos, who i s t o my l e f t , i n attempting t o

a l l e v i a t e the problems as o u t l i n e d i n the BTS-1 and i n the

complaints t h a t were f i l e d before you today.

What we have attempted t o do — and I submitted a

l e t t e r t o Mr. Smith r e l a t e d t o some of the changes t h a t have

taken place — I bel i e v e t h a t you w i l l note t h a t even i n the

documentation you have you w i l l see t h a t the v i o l a t i o n s have

diminished s u b s t a n t i a l l y .

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However, t o t h a t end,' what we have done i s , as I have

i n d i c a t e d , David Fix, who w i l l be t a k i n g over Hindman Moving

& Storage, c u r r e n t l y i s involved w i t h p r o v i d i n g a new

a u t h o r i t y of Deily Moving & Storage. He's g e t t i n g t h a t

current a u t h o r i t y . He has a hearing on t h a t i n the middle

of J uly. Once t h a t t r a n s f e r takes place, because he's

c u r r e n t l y i n a management p o s i t i o n there, we w i l l combine

the two a u t h o r i t i e s .

I n the past there's been question of e x a c t l y who

Hindman i s , who i s i t a f f i l i a t e d w i t h . We are making

s t r i d e s t o make t h a t more c l e a r t o the p u b l i c . One w i l l be

by doing t h a t , combining the two a u t h o r i t i e s , and now what

we also do i s we provide s p e c i f i c paperwork w i t h j u s t

Hindman Moving & Storage on i t , not any other a f f i l i a t e d

companies. We also have a l l salesmen who work f o r various

companies s t i l l provide s p e c i f i c cards showing Hindman

Moving & Storage.

We also have j o i n e d the T r i State Movers Association.

I t took a long time f o r us t o get i n there because there

were various t h i n g s w i t h our t a r i f f s they d i d n ' t l i k e . But

have we changed those t a r i f f s . Approximately twelve months

i t took us t o get i n there, and we are now.

We also have j o i n e d the Pennsylvania Movers & Storage

Association. My c l i e n t s attend a l l a v a i l a b l e meetings.

They t r y t o get a l l the i n f o r m a t i o n they can from them.

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They do contact them and use them t o a s s i s t them i n becoming

more compliant w i t h the Commission.

We also h i r e d James Kazmareck, who i s also here today,

who i s a past employee of the PUC. He was an enforcement

o f f i c e r . We do use him t o a s s i s t us w i t h the a u d i t s ,

h e lping us provide any other i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t he can r e l a t e d

t o b r i n g i n g us i n t o compliance w i t h any other problems t h a t

have e x i s t e d .

We have a problem w i t h an i n f o r m a t i o n f o r shippers.

That's one of the main thi n g s t h a t we have been c i t e d f o r .

We have made great improvements w i t h t h a t . We have made a l l

our forms compliant w i t h the PUC. We a c t u a l l y learned

something today about them r e l a t e d t o we have t o keep the

e n t i r e form, not j u s t the bottom h a l f of t h a t . They have

s t a r t e d t o do t h a t , from my understanding, but now f o r sure

w i l l do t h a t because we've been informed t h a t t h a t ' s e x a c t l y

what we need t o do.

What we normally do on those t o prevent t h a t problem

i s we have been sending a l l the salesmen out w i t h the

estimate f o r shippers form t o have them signed. I f we get a

c a l l , we send i t out w i t h the w r i t t e n estimate. I f , i n

f a c t , i t ' s the day before — we discussed t h i s a l i t t l e b i t

e a r l i e r — we us u a l l y had the mover b r i n g i t out unless we

can fax i t .

Mr. Skalos has informed me and the other p a r t i e s t h a t

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are here today t h a t what we also do now i s we send the mover

w i t h the secondary form and attempt t o have two forms signed

so t h a t we have both i n the f i l e , one the day of so the

shipper i s not confused as t o what they signed, because

sometimes we be l i e v e when they get a packet of i n f o r m a t i o n

they j u s t s t a r t s i g n i n g , they're r e a l l y not sure what

they're s i g n i n g . So we're t r y i n g t o a l l e v i a t e t h a t problem.

MR. SMITH: Can I j u s t intercede w i t h the one problem

t h a t has been experienced by the agency was long-standing

when a supervisor i s put on a job. Could you address —

MR. EMMI: I'm going t o address t h a t now.

MR. SMITH: You w i l l ?

MR. EMMI: Yes, I am.

MR. SMITH: Fine.

MR. EMMI: One of the other t h i n g s we have done i s we

have had some t a r i f f issues here. We have changed our

t a r i f f w i t h the help of T r i State Moving Association, and

t h a t was approved i n February, a c t u a l l y February 13th of

2006. We removed a l o t of thi n g s i n our t a r i f f t h a t were

ambiguous t h a t could we do or couldn't we do. No one was

r e a l l y sure. So we removed those t h i n g s so t h a t we are

cl e a r on what procedures we're t o f o l l o w .

One of the thi n g s we learned a few months ago was t h a t

when we have i n our t a r i f f a c e r t a i n amount t h a t we can

charge f o r supervisors, t h a t needs t o be l i s t e d on our b i l l

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of ladings. We have now s t a r t e d t o put t h a t on there . We

weren't aware of t h a t before. I t wasn't i n the t a r i f f or

any r e g u l a t i o n s t h a t we saw. Now we do put t h a t on there .

MR. SKALOS: On the estimate form.

MR. EMMI: Oh, I'm sor r y . I t ' s on the estimate form.

I apologize. Thank you. Now we also have the customer

s i g n - o f f on t h a t so t h a t i t ' s c l e a r t o them what they are

g e t t i n g and why they are g e t t i n g t h a t because sometimes we

have customers t h a t want more experienced crews and t h a t ' s

why we send them out.

Our problem of going outside our area has diminished

s i g n i f i c a n t l y . However, what we're also doing w i t h t h a t i s

we use.a computerized mapping system now t o make sure t h a t

we1 re w i t h i n our area. I f we get a c a l l t h a t ' s outside of

our area, we r e f e r t o an authorized mover i n t h a t p a r t i c u l a r

area.

Our estimated costs f o r shippers, we had some problems

w i t h t h a t . We now use a computer-generated t h a t ' s on a l l of

the PCs the salesmen use and on laptops also. So t h a t way

i t ' s uniform throughout, there's no problems w i t h t h a t .

We've made a l l our f o n t sizes c o r r e c t because we've had some

problems w i t h f o n t sizes i n the past.

. We've also h i r e d , r e h i r e d a c t u a l l y , a claims person,

Lynn K e l l e r , who was w i t h Don Farr Moving and i s also s t i l l

w i t h them, and also does a l l of our claims now on a

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f u l l - t i m e basis. She does have a s t a f f t h a t a s s i s t s her.

She has nine years of experience. So t h a t we're t r y i n g t o

a l l e v i a t e any customer complaints w i t h any claims t h a t they

have.

We've also developed a b e t t e r claims system i n

addressing those claims quicker than them c a l l i n g us,

g e t t i n g back t o them i n a week. We get back t o them r i g h t

away and s t a r t t o deal w i t h t h a t .

The l a s t t h i n g t h a t the company does, Mr. Skalos and

Mr. Fix have set up what they c a l l The Compliance A l l i a n c e .

What they do i s they have meetings w i t h t h e i r sales and

t h e i r s t a f f people, e s p e c i a l l y when T r i State Movers gives

them any i n f o r m a t i o n about new PUC r e g u l a t i o n s , t a l k s t o

these people about these new r e g u l a t i o n s . They t e l l them

where they're at w i t h t h e i r problems. They're t r y i n g t o get

down t o zero v i o l a t i o n s .

Mr. Fix, as the manager of the company t h a t I

i n d i c a t e d , D e i l y , d i d have an a u d i t l a s t year and had no

v i o l a t i o n s . He has been using h i s a b i l i t i e s and Mr.

Skalos's a b i l i t i e s t o t r y t o get Hindman t o t h a t stage, and

they are moving toward t h a t . As you w i l l note from the

p r i o r complaints t o these complaints they have s i g n i f i c a n t l y

improved.

That's what our plan i s at t h i s p a r t i c u l a r time t o

b r i n g us i n t o compliance. We're asking you t o accept the

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plan as has been o f f e r e d and the f i n e s as they f u r n i s h you.

Thank you. Your Honor.

JUDGE NEMEC: Thank you.

MR. EMMI: I f Mr. Smith would l i k e t o ask Mr. Skalos

or Mr. Fix any questions or even Mr. Kazmareck, we do have

them present i f he would l i k e t o do so.

MR. SMITH: I'm j u s t curious e x a c t l y , okay, T r i State,

I b e l i e v e you st a t e d f o r the record you j o i n e d T r i State as

of, what was i t ?

MR. SKALOS: I t was May 15th. He as s i s t e d me i n —

JUDGE NEMEC: I'm sorry. Your name i s , s i r ?

MR. SKALOS: Paul Skalos.

JUDGE NEMEC: Go ahead.

MR. SKALOS: He ass i s t e d . We weren't o f f i c i a l members

of T r i State. We were going t o the meetings. I had

questions about the whole-- The t a r i f f t h i n g was one of our

main problems. We weren't f o l l o w i n g our t a r i f f , and we

needed t o have a t a r i f f t h a t we could f o l l o w and t h a t was

also b e n e f i c i a l t o us.

We weren't members of T r i State, so he couldn't do a

t a r i f f f o r us. But he ass i s t e d me on, you know, g e t t i n g me

documents and advi s i n g what t o do and t e l l me how t o prepare

i t a l l . So we d i d n ' t become o f f i c i a l members of T r i State

u n t i l May, but f o r the past 12 months he's as s i s t e d me w i t h

many issues.

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MR. EMMI: He's completed other t a r i f f s f o r you since?

MR. SKALOS: Yes.

MR. SMITH: You've been a c t i v e l y working w i t h the

company since when?

MR. SKALOS: Since '95. Not always i n the o f f i c e , but

as a mover or dispatcher. My current p o s i t i o n dealing w i t h

the PUC and upper l e v e l management, you know, since January

of l a s t year, 2005.

MR. SMITH: Mr. Emmi, when d i d Mr. Kazmareck come on

i n t r y i n g t o a s s i s t the company?

MR. EMMI: March of 2005 I bel i e v e i t was.

MR. KAZMARECK: March 15th.

MR. EMMI: March 15th, t o be exact.

MR. SMITH: And David Fix s t a r t e d a c t i v e l y i n v olved

w i t h the company—

MR. EMMI: You s t a r t e d when a c t i v e l y ?

MR. FIX: May of 2004.

MR. EMMI: May of 2004.

MR. SMITH: Just l e t i t be known t h a t Denise Cohen,

the manager f o r the Western D i s t r i c t of Transpo r t a t i o n and

Safety, i s here. You're s a t i s f i e d ?

MS. COHEN: I'm s a t i s f i e d w i t h the settlement and w i t h

the plans t o comply. I'11 be happy t o work w i t h you, happy

t o answer any questions t h a t you may have.

MR. SMITH: That sounds good.

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^ & i % O ^ C ^ 1.1 ̂ JUDGE NEMEC: Anything else?

MR. SMITH: I t h i n k t h a t ' s i t .

MR. EMMI: Nothing f u r t h e r on our behalf, Your"*£ionor.

JUDGE NEMEC: I want t o thank you a l l f o r your

cooperation i n r e s o l v i n g what s t a r t e d out t o look l i k e a

very complicated s e r i e s of hearings. We are adjourned a t

t h i s time.

MR. SMITH: Thank you, Your Honor.

MR. EMMI: Thank you.

(Whereupon, at 11:15 a.m., the hearing adjourned.)

* * *

C E R T I F I C A T E

I hereby c e r t i f y , as the stenographic r e p o r t e r , t h a t

the foregoing proceedings were taken s t e n o g r a p h i c a l l y by me,

and t h e r e a f t e r reduced t o t y p e w r i t i n g by me or under my

d i r e c t i o n ; and t h a t t h i s t r a n s c r i p t i s a t r u e and accurate

record t o the best of my a b i l i t y .

NOTARIAL SEAL KAREN L. CROSS. NOTARY PUBLIC

McCANDLESS TWP., COUNTY OF ALLEGHENY MY COMMISSION EXPIRES FEBRUARY 4, 2006

COMMONWEALTH REPORTING CO., INC.

BY: ( X H d / Karen L . Cr&ss