Central Transport $5.5M EEOC Settlement Carries No New FMCSA Audit Trigger

Does the Central Transport EEOC settlement create new FMCSA compliance requirements?

No. Central Transport agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle Equal Employment Opportunity Commission allegations of sex discrimination in hiring, but the settlement imposes no new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration audit trigger, no CSA percentile change, and no revision to DOT hiring or new-entrant safety review procedures. The case was an EEOC enforcement action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. It does not alter the FMCSA's Safety Measurement System, the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) scoring methodology, or the paperwork a carrier files to obtain or maintain operating authority.

The Michigan-based carrier denied the allegations but settled after a 10-year investigation that began with complaints from two women at Central's Phoenix terminal in 2016. The EEOC said female driver applicants with 15 and 20 years of behind-the-wheel experience were told they would not get an interview or to not even bother applying because it would not do any good. The commission said the Phoenix terminal was not the only location largely ignoring female driver applicants.

At the Detroit terminal, a woman truck driver applied for a job with her male cousin. About 10 minutes later, the two realized they had left some information off their applications and went back to the terminal. The Central Transport employee had a hard time finding the female driver's paperwork until he fished it out of the trash, according to the EEOC.

What the settlement does not change for small fleets

The settlement does not create a new FMCSA hiring rule, does not add a line item to the MCS-150 biennial update, and does not trigger a safety audit or new-entrant review. Carriers preparing to start or expand do not face a new compliance step when filing for an MC number or USDOT registration. The BMC-91 cargo bond, BMC-91X process agent designation, and new-entrant safety review procedures remain unchanged.

CSA scoring under the Safety Measurement System does not incorporate EEOC hiring-discrimination findings. The Unsafe Driving, Hours-of-Service Compliance, Driver Fitness, Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Vehicle Maintenance, Hazardous Materials Compliance, and Crash Indicator BASICs (Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories) measure roadside violations, inspections, and crashes. None of those categories capture hiring practices or employment discrimination.

The Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, which tracks CDL (commercial driver's license) holders who fail or refuse drug and alcohol tests, also does not incorporate EEOC enforcement actions. Clearinghouse queries remain mandatory before hiring a driver and annually for current drivers, but the database does not flag carriers under EEOC investigation.

Why carriers still need to track EEOC exposure separately

Even though the Central Transport settlement does not change FMCSA compliance, it underscores a risk small fleets often overlook: employment-law liability runs parallel to DOT safety compliance, not inside it. A carrier can pass a new-entrant safety audit, maintain a Satisfactory safety rating, and hold CSA percentiles below intervention thresholds while still facing a multi-million-dollar EEOC settlement.

The EEOC enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The commission investigates complaints, conducts systemic investigations, and can sue employers in federal court. Settlements and judgments do not appear on a carrier's FMCSA safety profile, but they can drain cash reserves and force operational changes that indirectly affect compliance capacity.

Small fleets and owner-operators expanding into multi-truck operations should document hiring decisions with objective criteria: years of experience, endorsements, clean MVR (motor vehicle record), recent verifiable employment, and references. When a carrier rejects an applicant, the file should show why the chosen candidate was more qualified, not why the rejected candidate was unqualified. The EEOC looks for patterns. If a terminal hires 20 male drivers in a row while female applicants with comparable or better experience are turned away, the pattern becomes evidence.

What the ATRI data shows about women-driver recruiting

In 2024, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) found that motor carriers implementing women-specific recruiting and retention initiatives have a higher percentage of women drivers (8 percent) than those without such initiatives (5 percent). The research does not create an FMCSA mandate, but it suggests that carriers ignoring half the potential driver pool are leaving qualified applicants on the table in a market where driver shortages remain chronic.

Women-specific initiatives in the ATRI study included mentorship programs, women-driver advisory councils, and recruiting materials that featured female drivers. None of those programs require FMCSA approval or trigger a new compliance filing. They are business decisions, not regulatory obligations. But the Central Transport case shows what happens when a carrier's hiring pattern suggests systematic exclusion: a decade-long investigation and a settlement that dwarfs most small fleets' annual revenue.

The compliance takeaway for small fleets

If you are a small fleet or owner-operator preparing to hire, the Central Transport settlement does not change your FMCSA checklist. You still need to query the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, verify the applicant's CDL and medical certificate, pull the PSP (Pre-Employment Screening Program) report, and document the hiring decision. But you also need to document why you hired the driver you hired, not just that the driver you rejected had a disqualifying factor.

Keep application files for at least three years. If you interview a driver and do not hire them, note the reason in the file: the chosen candidate had more recent experience, a cleaner MVR, or a specific endorsement the job required. If you throw an application in the trash 10 minutes after a driver walks out, you are creating evidence for an EEOC investigator who shows up eight years later.

The FMCSA does not audit hiring practices, but the EEOC does. The two agencies do not share enforcement data in a way that affects your CSA score or safety rating, but a $5.5 million settlement will affect your ability to pay for ELD subscriptions, cargo insurance, and the next round of PM (preventive maintenance). Compliance is not just the FMCSA. It is every agency that can put you out of business.