Fung Wah company pulls buses off the road after state inspections find structural cracks

By Katie Johnston, Globe Staff

The Fung Wah bus company has taken almost its entire fleet off the road following inspections by the state Department of Public Utilities that found structural cracks in several of the company’s buses.

The frame cracks, located in the drive axle, rear axle, engine cradle, and other locations, posed serious safety issues, said Ann Berwick, chairwoman of the utilities department. The DPU asked Fung Wah to pull 21 of its 28 buses from the road and has referred the matter to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

“We’re recommending that they deem this to be an imminent hazard, which would mean that they would shut down the company until the problems were addressed,” Berwick said.

Fung Wah voluntarily took the buses out of service Saturday evening and started running charter buses in their place, reducing its service between Boston and New York from every half hour to every hour, said Stephen Squibb, manager of South Station, where Fung Wah operates.

The DPU has never pulled this many buses out of service, Berwick said.

Fung Wah officials declined to comment.