Beautiful. Pilot keeps their reputation intact with a clean record and
does a good deed by making a donation to the feds. Oh, I almost forgot,
the company was also forced to agree to obey the law..you know the
law,,,the one they were alleged to have disregarded..the one disallowing
them from selling the radios they were selling all along. In other
words, they are now being asked to comply with the law. Additional
violations of the law will result in additional action by the FCC,
perhaps even a warning letter sent to Pilot. Hammer down, good buddy!








A consent decree has finally ended an enforcement action against Pilot
Travel Centers LLC that could have cost the company $125,000 in fines.
In November 2004 the FCC issued a Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL)
asserting that Pilot, despite multiple citations and warnings, continued
to market CB transceivers labeled as Amateur Radio gear but intended for
use on both Citizens Band and amateur frequencies. An FCC Order released
May 11 adopts the attached consent decree between the agency and Pilot
and terminates the forfeiture action. While Pilot agrees to make "a
voluntary contribution" of $90,000 to the US Treasury "without further
protest or recourse," the company does not admit any wrongdoing.
"The parties further agree that this consent decree is for settlement
purposes only and that by agreeing to the consent decree, Pilot does not
admit or deny any liability for violating the [Communications] Act or
the rules in connection with the matters that are the subject of this
consent decree," the agreement stipulates.
Under the terms of the consent decree, Pilot must refrain in the future
from marketing as "Amateur Radio" gear any transmitting devices with
built-in features to facilitate CB operation. The company also must
determine in advance that any CB transmitting gear it offers for sale is
FCC certificated. CB transmitters must receive FCC
certification--formerly called "type acceptance." Amateur Radio
transmitting equipment does not require FCC certification.
Should Pilot plan to sell legitimate Amateur Radio transceivers, it must
ensure before marketing or selling them that the ARRL Lab has reviewed
the equipment in question and determined that it transmits only in the
Amateur Radio bands. The ARRL Lab tests equipment both for QST "Product
Review" articles as well as for compliance with QST advertising policy,
which requires that items offered for sale meet FCC rules.
Further, the consent decree requires Pilot to remove from sale certain
Galaxy brand transceivers (models DX33HML, DX66V and DX99V) and any
other "Amateur Radio" transceivers that have not passed ARRL Lab muster
in the course of product review or advertising compliance testing. Pilot
also will have to ensure that any CB transceivers on sale by entities
leasing space on its premises are FCC certificated.
The consent decree brings to a close an enforcement action dating back
more than six years. In its 2004 NAL, the FCC cited 47 separate
instances between 2002 and 2004 when Pilot allegedly had offered for
sale various models of non-certificated Galaxy CB transceivers labeled
as "amateur radios" that easily could be modified for CB operation.