WASHINGTON Two key members of the U.S. House want tougher penalties enacted for bus and truck companies that get shut down for safety violations, only to reopen under a new name.

Reps. James Oberstar, D-Minn., and Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., the chairmen of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House highways and transit subcommittee, respectively, say the issue should be addressed in the next federal highway and public transportation reauthorization bill.

Oberstar and DeFazio say the legislation could deal with concerns raised by a Government Accountability Office report that found a number of bus and trucking companies that had been shut down by safety regulators had resumed business as so-called reincarnated companies because it was "relatively simple to do and hard to detect." (See Aug. 15 Bus & Motorcoach News.)

The GAO report found that roughly 9 percent of the 220 bus companies that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and its partners had put out of service in fiscal 2007 and 2008 resumed operation under a different name.

Additionally, there were 1,073 potentially reincarnated trucking companies in fiscal 2007 and 2008, the report said, adding that "of these, at least 400 are still active as of June 2009."

Oberstar and DeFazio, along with Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, requested the GAO report after an August 2008 bus crash killed 17 people.

DeFazio called the reports findings "disturbing."

"No motorcoach company should ever be allowed to reincarnate" and continue to operate on our nations highways without making the necessary safety improvements," he said.

"The surface transportation authorization bill we are working on will require the Department of Transportation to do a more thorough check when carriers apply for operating authority to make sure these rogue operators dont rise from the dead and continue to endanger the lives of the traveling public."

It is obvious these companies are intentionally trying to deceive FMCSA and the public by reinventing themselves as "new carriers," Oberstar said.

"FMCSA must protect public safety by making sure these unsafe carriers stay off the road."

A provision in the highway bill Oberstar is trying to push through Congress would authorize FMCSA to deny or revoke operating authority to a carrier that fails to disclose a relationship to a closed carrier.

In addition, the bill would allow the agency to impose civil penalties on reincarnated carriers.

The FMCSA says it has already made changes to the USDOT application process that makes it more difficult for unsafe reincarnated operators to obtain new authority.

Those familiar with the system, however, say that once a rogue operator is registered it is tough to find them. So, scrutiny needs to take place as soon as the application is submitted.

Some safety advocates say the principal of a new carrier should have to go through a safety compliance and safety management training course and pass a proficiency exam before a new carrier is allowed to operate.