Oak Lawn Companies Top Illinois Tollway's Super Scofflaw 'List of Shame'

Look up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s an Illinois Tollway Super Scofflaw (allegedly)!

After filing it’s 400th lawsuit since it first began going to the courts two years ago to collect unpaid tolls and fines from chronic toll violators, the Illinois Tollway published its third quarter 2014 list of super scofflaws in the Chicago region.

The Illinois Tollway filed a record 47 lawsuits in circuit court on Thursday seeking administrative judgements of $207,000 against the region’s biggest toll deadbeats. The agency’s executive director Kristi Lafleur described the action as a last resort.

“This is the last step we take when we have exhausted all other options for collecting these unpaid tolls that are needed to maintain and safely operate our roadways,” Lafleur said in a news advisory. “The overwhelming majority of our customers pay their tolls on time, so this step is simply a matter of ensuring that everybody who uses the tollway pays their fair share.”

The lawsuits only target commercial companies, not individual drivers. Since the tollway began suing commercial customers in 2012, about $716,000 has been collected from chronic offenders.

According to the agency, toll violators who owe back tolls or fines received at least five notices and four phone calls offering them multiple opportunities to enter into a settlement agreement or set up a payment plan to settle their debt.

The entire process takes nine months to two years or more from the time a violator receives a first violation notice to when the tollway files a judgement in court seeking payment.

The Illinois Tollway has outed 284 companies that owe $1,000 or more in unpaid tolls on its “Super Scofflaw” list posted on the agency’s website. totaling $8,995,391.54.

Topping the list is MMM Trans, of Wheeling, which owes $890,748.90 in unpaid tolls and fines, the tollway claims.

Bridges Excavating, of Oak Lawn, landed in the number 4 spot with $364,510.05. The excavation contractor shows up again in the eighteenth slot, owing $96,269.60, according to the list.

A total seven Oak Lawn companies made the tollway’s “Super Scofflaw” list, including:

#4 - Bridges Excavating Inc. (Oak Lawn) - $364,510.05

#18 - Bridges Excavating Inc. (Oak Lawn) - $96,269.60

#96 - Joey’s Cartage Ltd. (Oak Lawn) $17,500.80

#145 - AMS Building Alteration (Oak Lawn) $8,221.65

#157 - Trim Real Estate Services (Oak Lawn) $6,868.55

#172 - Pro Care Inc.(Oak Lawn) $5,742.30

#226 - Metro Consultants (Oak Lawn) $3,202.80

#241 - San Jose Produce (Oak Lawn) $2,644.80

Alleged super scofflaws from other nearby towns include:

#20 - Chanco Rico Trucking Inc. (Burbank) $88,387.70

#26 - Duke Logistics Corp (Alsip) $63,361.20

#38 - Adiela Inc. (Bridgeview) $46,607.95

#41 - Intercoastal Freight Services (Crestwood) $45,016.85

#92 - Karolina Express Inc. (Burbank) $19,042.95

#110 - DMX Trucking Inc. (Palos Hills) $13,612.85

#129 - Senior Health and Wellness (Palos Hills) $9,848.80

#149 - Michael’s Cartage Inc. (Bridgeview) $7,712.70

#176 - Duke Logistics Corp (Alsip) $5,611.45

#178 - Tri-State Auto Auction (Crestwood) $5,521.70

See the Illinois Tollway’s complete “Super Scofflaw” list here.

The Illinois Tollway says violators should contact the phone number listed on their collection agency notices for more information about how to resolve their debt. To learn more about the collections process for violators who don’t pay their violation notices on time, visit the tollway’s violators timeline.