Could a TikTok-ing trucker, questionable USPS contracts be to blame for a Missouri woman’s fiery death?
A new report reveals USPS could be using your money to let unvetted truckers hop on the highway with mail, and lives, on the line.
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Three weeks after a Missouri woman was killed in a head-on collision involving a semi-truck, a federal report reveals how a lax government vetting process, or lack thereof, may have allowed a risky trucker on the roadway.
Your money, and mail, could also be to blame.
Edith McKee, 59, of Sullivan died around 6:30 a.m. March 27th after a semi-truck heading westbound on I-44 in Franklin County veered off the roadway and plowed through cable barriers into the eastbound lanes. Both McKee’s vehicle and the semi immediately caught fire.
“The family is in shock,” Chip Gentry, attorney for McKee’s family, said. “She had just dropped her grandchild off at daycare.”
Authorities spent hours working to recover McKee’s body as the fire raged on. Meanwhile, authorities say the trucker escaped with minor injuries, telling officers on the scene he was hauling food in his trailer.
After putting out the fire, Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) told First Alert 4 the trucker was actually carrying United States Postal Service (USPS) Mail and was hired on as a subcontractor. MSHP said the driver was on his way from New Jersey to Arizona when the thousands of letters and packages he was carrying went up in flames, complicating efforts by firefighters.
MSHP identified the man behind the wheel of the now-destroyed semi as 28-year-old Manpreet Singh, of New York. No charges have been filed at this time as the cause is still under investigation. Authorities say Singh is cooperating in the investigation.
As officials worked to learn what happened in the moments leading up to the crash, First Alert 4 Investigates did some digging on Singh, learning that, for several years now, he has been posting videos on the social media platforms Instagram and TikTok of him behind the wheel of several different semis, recording his surroundings in heavy traffic, rain or shine, taking ‘selfies’ and watching videos while the vehicle is moving.
With MSHP confirming the identity of the driver seen in the clips, Singh is also seen taking his hands off the wheel at times, while his device sits on the dash recording back at him. TikTok flagged dozens of his videos stating, “Participating in this activity could result in you or others getting hurt.”
“Appalling,” Gentry said. “You can just keep scrolling. It’s video after video after video.”
Despite First Alert 4 taking a matter of seconds to discover years’ worth of distracted driving, a recent federal audit of USPS backgrounding processes details that gaps in its vetting policies “could compromise the safety and security of mail and other motorists.”
The report, titled “Contract Trucking Safety and Compliance,” was released exactly one month before Singh was involved in the deadly I-44 crash. In its findings, the USPS Office of Inspector General (USPSOIG) stated the Postal Service is sometimes unaware of who is authorized to transport mail, specifically speaking to subcontracted truckers.
As a subcontractor, Singh was hired by a third-party supplier. That is when a middleman is awarded a contract by USPS to find trucking companies to fill driver gaps. The report states the need for truckers grew exponentially due to the COVID-19 pandemic-fueled trucker shortage.
According to data from the report, trips taken by one group of subcontracted truckers grew about 350% over the last two years. The report says these trips are taken by “unvetted drivers,” as the USPS does not keep a record of their driving history or who they are.
As USPS actively spends more than $5 billion on more than 4,000 different trucking contracts and counting, according to the report, when a new supplier is signed on, USPS policies state that a third-party supplier is responsible for vetting its drivers, but it is not required to “report the results” to the Postal Service, potentially allowing drivers to cash in on bad driving habits without the government’s knowledge.
USPS relies almost entirely on revenue to fund its services, using patrons’ dollars - and the mail they send - to keep things moving. However, due to falling profits, the agency has received billions in taxpayer dollars over the last several years to bridge funding gaps and is actively asking for more, according to reporting from the Washington Post.
“What is most troubling is you would anticipate a motor carrier and our United States Government would actually do enough due diligence to see what type of folks they’re putting behind these trucks,” Gentry said. “Edith’s death was needless.”
“When will the government recognize that one death is too many,” Gentry said, “and they have to do a better job?”
WHAT WE FOUND
While USPS declines to vet for themselves thousands of truckers carrying your mail, First Alert 4 Investigates did some digging. According to business records filed in New York, Singh is the owner of the trucking company Majesty Transport, Inc. The corporation maintains several tractor-trailers and a total of six drivers, including Singh, according to data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
Not only did a 30-second social media sweep of Singh find years of documented distracted driving, but according to additional data provided by the FMCSA, Singh and the team of truckers have received 27 safety infractions in the company’s three-year lifespan thus far.
The violations include several drug/alcohol infractions, hours-of-service violations and unsafe driving. In the last six months, the company has reported involvement in at least two other crashes, though it is unclear who the driver involved was and what load he or she was carrying.
The combination of federally documented safety concerns and a “disturbing” social media persona, as Gentry puts it, should have alerted both the Postal Service and the third-party supplier who subcontracted Majestic Transport, Inc. to the possibility of dangerous consequences.
Upon request, USPS could not supply any information relating to Singh, his company or the third-party supplier, though it placed your mail in the bed of his truck.
SOME NUMBERS
Data available through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) shows 373 crashes involving contracted USPS truckers resulted in about 89 deaths from October 2018 through December 2022. That number could be much higher as USPS didn’t start recording crashes and fatalities until 2023.
Completely unvetted drivers have completed more than 240,000 trips hauling USPS mail, according to the report.
Trips completed by those unvetted drivers skyrocketed from 53,433 in fiscal year (FY) 2022 to 187,573 in FY 2023, adding up to 241,006 trips in which USPS was unaware of who was behind the wheel and what their driving history was like.
The Postal Service did not terminate any contracts with trucking companies involved in accidents or fatalities prior to March 2023.
USPS RESPONSE AND WHAT’S NEXT
Postal Service management agreed that they needed to make some changes to policy, including as it relates to tracking contract truckers’ crashes and associated fatalities.
However, USPS disagreed with several more recommendations from the USPSOIG, stating that it would not make any changes as it relates to learning about subcontracted truckers and their driving history, as the supplier is responsible for vetting of drivers and maintenance of related records, and USPS “sees no benefit in maintaining duplicative records.” USPS will continue to “generally rely” on suppliers to hire safe and qualified drivers.
USPSOIG said in response to the Postal Service’s pushback on the audit that it will continue pushing for change in the agency and will now work through an ‘audit resolution.’
As for what’s next, Gentry makes it clear a few people and agencies need to be held accountable, including the United States Postal Service, Singh and the currently unknown company tasked with hiring Singh.
While Singh answered a call from First Alert 4 Investigates, he stated he couldn’t comment on the situation, and his lawyer would be in touch.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation. Troopers say they do not plan to look through Singh’s phone for signs of social media use as they assume he dozed off while behind the wheel. No charges have been filed at this time.
This is a developing story.
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