Greyhound Drivers Fail to Meet Standards : Strike: At least 160 replacement employees are not certified by the state, according to a CHP report released by an assemblyman.

SACRAMENTO — Greyhound Lines, attempting to keep buses on the road despite a strike by its drivers, is employing at least 160 replacement bus operators who have not met California safety standards, state records show.

In Los Angeles, a California Highway Patrol inspection of the Greyhound terminal last month found that more than 90% of the drivers based there did not have a state tour bus operator’s license--a requirement imposed in the wake of the 1986 Walker River bus crash that killed 22 people.

A Greyhound official confirmed that about 160 drivers who are on the road today have not taken the Department of Motor Vehicles licensing test for bus operators but said that all the drivers are scheduled to have their certificates by the end of May.

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), who released a copy of the CHP inspection report, charged that Greyhound is endangering the public by using these drivers and urged the Highway Patrol to cite all operators who are behind the wheel without the required certificate.

“The fact that they would let these guys drive for one day, let alone several weeks, without the proper licenses is frightening,” said Katz, chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee. “They’re violating the law. It puts the public at risk and that is not acceptable.”

When Greyhound’s drivers went on strike March 2 nationwide, the bus line hired strikebreakers who were licensed to drive commercial vehicles, but in California only a few of them met the additional state standard for operating buses. In California, the driver of a Greyhound bus must have both a commercial driver’s license and a tour bus operator certificate.

According to Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman Bill Gengler, the company has trained 334 new drivers for its buses in California, but no more than 174 of them have received the required bus operator certification.

Elizabeth Hale, a spokeswoman for Greyhound, said until recently, the company did not know about the state licensing requirements, which were expanded last October to cover Greyhound drivers.

“We were not aware of the law until the inspection by the California Highway Patrol,” she said. “The Department of Motor Vehicles has been very helpful in setting up testing for us so we can get our drivers qualified. We expect to finish by the end of the month.”

The Legislature began requiring bus drivers to obtain the tour bus operator certificate after the Mono County crash in which a charter bus from Santa Monica careened off the road and plunged into the icy Walker River. An investigation found that the bus driver, Ernest Klimcek, had repeatedly been cited for speeding before the accident and at one point had his license suspended.

Under a 1986 law sponsored by Katz, bus drivers must now pass a stricter examination and a test of their ability to identify mechanical problems in their vehicles. The test takes about 1 1/2 hours and includes both a written exam and a driving test.

The law also requires employers to register the names of their drivers with the Department of Motor Vehicles so that the company can be notified of any driving violations.

At first, the statute applied to charter bus drivers but was broadened by the Legislature last year to include all bus drivers--such as Greyhound operators--who follow fixed routes.

The number of Greyhound drivers now without certificates appears to be most heavily concentrated in Southern California, state officials said.

In its inspection of the Los Angeles Greyhound terminal on April 3, the Highway Patrol conducted a random check of the records of 64 drivers and found that 58 were operating without the tour bus certificate.

The team of investigators also found numerous other violations, such as drivers who were behind the wheel for more than the legal limit of 10 hours per day.

In addition, they discovered a variety of mechanical problems, including brake and steering defects that were so serious they ordered three buses taken out of service.

No citations were issued by the Highway Patrol, but the inspectors gave the terminal a rating of “unsatisfactory.” If the problems are not corrected within 60 days of the inspection, Greyhound’s state license to operate the terminal can be revoked.

After reviewing the inspection report, Katz questioned why the Highway Patrol was not taking stronger action against Greyhound and the drivers who have not passed the state test.

“The failure to comply increases the risk of the Walker River tragedy repeating itself,” said Katz, who sympathizes with the drivers’ union in its strike. “You have drivers who are not properly trained, and who are working longer hours than they are supposed to be on the road.”

Deputy Highway Patrol Commissioner Spike Helmick said the CHP’s goal is to obtain compliance from Greyhound, not to punish the company.

At the Los Angeles terminal, he said, the company and drivers were not cited because the inspection team was made up of non-law enforcement investigators who do not have the authority to write tickets. But on the road, CHP officers have cited Greyhound drivers not licensed as tour bus operators and will continue to do so, Helmick said. He was uncertain how many had been ticketed for not being certified.

“It’s a violation of law. They obviously should have them,” he said. “I can assure you we have been paying very special attention to Greyhound without getting accused of taking one side or the other (in the strike). They made it clear to us they would get on the ball and correct it.”

Hale, the Greyhound spokeswoman, said the company has interpreted the CHP position as “a 60-day grace period to get our people qualified.”

But Katz and Helmick agree that the law allows no such grace period for improperly licensed bus drivers.

“My reading of the law is they are supposed to have the certificate or not be on the road,” Katz said. “I’d say the CHP ought to go back and cite anybody who is getting behind the wheel of the bus who doesn’t have a certificate. And Greyhound should not put anybody on the road who has not passed the tour bus certificate test.”