Massachusetts AG Filed Lawsuit against Trucking Company for Fraudulent Emissions Certifications

JULY 1, 2021

On July 1, 2021, then-Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced a lawsuit against Penske Truck Leasing Co., a national truck rental company, as well as six vehicle inspectors over fraudulent certification of vehicles as passing state emissions regulations. According to the AG’s lawsuit, on nearly 200 occasions, the inspectors used a “variety of illegal methods to falsify passing results for Penske’s trucks or evade monitoring, including failing to put the smoke reader fully into the tailpipe, using a video of a different vehicle being inspected, or conducting the test out of view of the agencies’ cameras.”

On July 12, 2023, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced that a settlement had been reached in the case. Under the settlement, the company must pay up to $3.5 million in fines.