The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "carriers" ...
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Outsourcing Safety: Boeing Jets Repairs in El Salvador
KIRO Team 7 investigators travel to El Salvador, uncovering a series of safety lapses at a Boeing jet maintenance facility. We found unqualified $2 an hour mechanics, the use of broken parts, failures to properly connect electrical wiring inside aircraft and the hiring of a work force that had trouble reading English-only Boeing jet repair manuals. This team of reporters also uncovered the locations of where major U.S. carriers take their jets out of the country for repair (Guadalajara, Taipei, Hong Kong, El Salvador, Beijing, Mexico City and Guatemala).
Tags: Boeing; jets; broken parts; U.S. carriers
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Florida's Insurance Nightmare
The Herald-Tribune's series about the Florida property insurance market gives Floridians their first look at the risk of the insurance companies on which they rely. "In print and online, readers can see detailed financial information of more than 100 insurance carriers, the capital they have to weather a disaster, the degree to which they are overexposed, and the extent to which they are leveraged. It is the only public source to alert consumers whose homes might be in danger."
Tags: property insurance; fraud; hurricane; Florida; insurance fraud; National Association of Insurance Commissioners; Florida Office of Insurance Information;
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Flying Cheap
The February 2009 crash of Continental Flight 3407 revealed "a little-known trend in the airline industry: major airlines have outsourced more and more of their flights to obscure regional carriers." These smaller carriers operate with different safety practices with pilots that are often paid less, with less training and fewer flight hours.
Tags: airlines; aviation safety; Federal Aviation Administration; flight safety; transportation
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GMA Gets Answers
This series takes a hard look at the problems Americans are facing with insurance carriers, both public and private. In each story, Anchor Chris Cuomo profiles people fighting battles against insurance companies that are denying their claims. The investigators tried to get answers to claimants' questions about why their claims were being denied, even though they appeared to be following their insurance policy rules to a tee. They found that many consumers find themselves enmeshed in a complex and confusing system that allows insurers to wrongfully deny or delay claims with little possibility of penalty.
Tags: disease; genetic test; Medicaid; Insurance; claims; deny claims; public health
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Houston Texas Bus Safety
This story looks at two bus crashes in Texas to determine how companies are regulated. It also looks at how Houston operators who cater to Hispanic, working-class passengers are allowed to operate, some illegally, despite poor safety records and questionable licensing.
Tags: buses; public safety; driving records; racial discrimination; bus crashes; chameleon carrier; driving offenses;
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Sick drivers causing fatal wrecks
The story (and follow-up pieces) exmined the issue of dangerous sick drivers who fill U.S. highways. The July 21 story found that hundreds of thousands of drivers carry commercial licenses even though they also qualify for full federal disability payments. The tractor-trailer and bus drivers have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells that led to deadly crashes, with violations found in every state.
Tags: bus drivers; truck drivers; National Transportation Safety Board; Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration; blackout
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Leaks in the System
KMSP-TV found that oversight for drug testing of commercial truckers was lax. This allowed truckers to adulterate or substitute specimens in order to pass a test. Also they found that despite drug test being required, companies in Minnesota and Wisconsin continue to put drivers behind the wheel without testing them first. Lastly, they exposed a loophole that allowed failed drivers to keep working in the industry.
Tags: trucking; transportation; drugs; drug testing; oversight; Minnesota; Wisconsin; commercial trucking; Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration;
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Contractor Pure Premium
Analysis of the State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) has led to new conclusions about the marketplace and control of rates in the California workers' comp. It was found that if one carrier held a major market share of any specific class, or classes, that by adjusting its loss reserves or thoise reserves it reported to the Bureua by sheer magnitude of data it could affect the rates up or down as it chose.
Tags: classification relativity review sheet; x-mod; Steve Poizner; Patrick Andersen
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Franklin truck firm's fines among highest in industry
"Federal records show widespread disregard for safety rules at JDC Logistics, a 500-tractor trucking firm based in suburban Milwaukee. Out of more than 50,000 truck and bus companies audited over the last six years by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to check compliance with the rules governing drivers' work hours, only six were fined more than JDC."
Tags: trucking; transportation; logistics; hours; safety; tracking; JDC; drivers;
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Hey, Mr. Mailman!
KDFW-TV in Dallas investigates registered sex offenders working for the U.S. Postal Service. The USPS admitted it "does not have a clear policy on offenders who become registered sex offenders." As a result, Postal officals in both Washington, D.C. and Dallas said "Fox 4 News found a weakness in their system" and began to investigate.
Tags: Sex offenders; U.S. Postal Service; mail carriers; federal government