Safety record seen as above average
Data offers details on truck firm in crash
Admar Construction Equipment & Supplies, the Rochesterbased firm involved in the Wednesday crash on the Northway that damaged the Sitterly Road overpass in Clifton Park, has a slightly better-than-average highway safety record, a review of federal records shows, with two previous crashes in 2019, including one on the Northway.
The family-owned company, which has a location near Albany
International Airport, has been cited seven times for unsafe driving by State Police since January 2020, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
None of the violations reviewed by the Times Union appeared overly serious, although on Aug.
10, 2020, an Admar vehicle was cited by State Police for an "excess weight" violation involving hazardous material that was classified as flammable.
A Jan. 23, 2020, State Police inspection found that an Admar vehicle was driving without a valid inspection, according to the FMCSA. An Oct. 20, 2020, State Police inspection found defective brakes on another Admar vehicle that was towing a trailer.
The state Department of Transportation does frequent, random roadside inspections of commercial vehicles across the state using both DOT personnel and specially trained state troopers.
Vehicles that are found to have serious violations are ordered off the road until they can be repaired. Such vehicles are considered out of service by the DOT.
The federal Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program provides New York state millions of dollars a year to do the inspections.
Admar actually has a better-than-average out-ofservice rate for its vehicles, according to the FMCSA. The company's out-ofservice rate currently stands at 17.8 percent, which is better than the national average of 20.7 percent.
State Police Thursday ticketed the man driving the Admar truck involved in the crash. The driver, 56, of Colonie, was southbound on the Northway when a boom lift on the truck's trailer hit the overpass, knocking the lift onto the highway. All three southbound lanes of the were blocked between exits 9A and 8A. The overpass was damaged.
State Police won’t release the violations the driver was cited for, citing new disclosure laws tied to criminal justice reforms. The Times Union is withholding the name of the man because he does not face a criminal charge.
Admar Construction Equipment is owned by the Dimarco family in Rochester, which is also involved in commercial real estate. A call to the company Friday was not returned.
The state DOT issued Admar a so-called notice of violation in June 2020, based on Admar's failure to return inspection reports to the DOT. Admar paid a $500 civil penalty to resolve the issue.
But the company may be facing much greater expenses if it is found liable for the costs of the bridge repairs. DOT is also working as fast as it can to fully reopen the Northway and the overpass.
"Longer term, we are assessing the alternatives for rehabilitating or replacing the bridge. The extent of the damage will drive the alternatives considered," DOT spokesman Joe Morrissey told the Times Union. "Like any damage sustained to our system, we fully intend to seek restitution for all costs incurred by the state resulting from this crash. It is too early to say what that amount would be."
An Admar vehicle was involved in an October 2019 crash on the Northway, just south of Central Avenue, according to the FMCSA, which gets its data from the state DOT. There were no injuries in the two-vehicle crash, and no tickets were issued, according to records.