At this point, I’m overly annoyed by the news and social media influencers twisting the issues in trucking into political theater. I’m annoyed by those who use trucking for clicks and don’t care to offer any solutions or continue advocating for the industry. I’m annoyed by those who take my research and post it as if it’s breaking news.
State of California v
everyone else.
California may be the loudest problem, but it’s far from the only one. If it were just California, we could clean up this mess much quicker.
In my collection of CDLs, multiple states are issuing federal Real IDs as non-domiciled CDLs. I’ve redacted personal details, but I can confirm these identities do not belong to American citizens. And yes, I ran the background checks.
California should certainly be held accountable for its negligence and foolishness, but fraudulently issued CDLs are just one piece of a much bigger puzzle.
ICE x Oklahoma x Weigh Station
Federal and state law enforcement officers arrested 120 individuals for immigration-related violations during a multiday operation along Interstate 40 in western Oklahoma. Of the 91 commercial drivers detained, 39 were citizens of India, 13 of Uzbekistan, and 12 of China.
ICE said 80 of the 91 drivers had entered the U.S. illegally or were awaiting asylum hearings, while one had a final removal order.
ICE said the commercial driver’s licenses held by those arrested were issued in several states, most notably:
California, with 44
New York, with 14
Pennsylvania, with 12
and Illinois, with 11
Indiana.
On October 14th, Borko Stankovic (41), a truck driver with ties to Indiana and Illinois, crossed into oncoming traffic, killing a man instantly. He did not have a valid CDL; he was carrying a family-shared CDL. And his immigration visa expired in 2011.
Oh. And, he got at least 2 PPP loans.
Illinois.
Arminas Lubianskas, 33, an illegal alien from Lithuania, was arrested during a joint raid by local police & Homeland Security. Police recovered 27 stolen appliances, valued at up to $100,000, from his home that were taken from a warehouse in the 14500 block of Gougar Rd.
Lubianskas owns two US-based companies:
ARMIN GROUP CORP. - 2016
ARMMAX GLOVES INC. - 2024
At the same address as the two companies, there is an active trucking company.
Minnesota.
New York.
Florida.
Alexis Osmani Gonzalez-Companioni fell asleep at the wheel in Terrell, Texas, and woke up to a loud bang. That bang? His 80,000 lb semi-truck crashed into four passenger vehicles and two other semis. The sleeping driver killed 5 people and injured several others. He held a Florida CDL.
Which USDOT Number should we use next?
The Department of Transportation and the FMCSA have yet to address the company census data. Particularly, individuals or apartment buildings holding multiple DOT authorities. In my opinion, that’s every bit as serious as the CDL problem.
Why does this matter?
Because in any other profession, incompetence has consequences. If a neurosurgeon kills a patient due to a lack of skill, they lose their medical license. Permanently.
But, in trucking, we don’t do that. Why?! I do not know.
When a carrier is placed out of service, that should mean they’re done… for good. But that’s not what happens. Companies fail audits, they won’t answer for the auditor, the auditor can’t find them, they lose insurance, or rack up safety violations and ruin their reputation. You would think this would be the end, but no. Within days, they’re back on the road with another tapped on DOT number.
Same trucks. Same people. Same sh*t.
No one calls it out. No one asks questions. Carrier vetting tools slap on a green check, and they’re good to go.
This is absolutely absurd. It is dangerous. It is negligent. It is ludicrous. And it’s up to the FMCSA to fix this piece of the mess.
In the case of Hope Trans, the driver was from Florida. Hope Trans hasn’t always been ‘Hope Trans.’ Before Hope, they were Bee Zone Logistics. Before Bee Zone Logistics, they were Kardan Trucking.
Each new company looked perfectly clean on paper. Safe. Compliant. Gold star. But they were far, far from that.
Or, this one. Since 2024, they’ve had at least 12 USDOT authorities. I stopped counting at 12 because my level of anger was not healthy.
Total violations and crash data from 8 of their USDOT records:
Out-of-service (OOS) orders: 3,336
Crashes: 90
Injuries: 43
This is absolutely ridiculous. Stupid, really.
Or, this one. This is ONE subdivision in Indiana.
Total trucking companies: 141
11 houses, each with 2 companies
2 houses, each with 3 companies
2 houses, each with 4 companies
Most operate with 1-2 trucks, but we do have a few fleets:
22 trucks
18 trucks
14 trucks
11 trucks
I wouldn’t call these out if I were unsure about the fraudulent activities, but I am sure. They are absolutely doing shady things.
Here are a few more examples.
55 trucking companies in a different Indiana subdivision.
55 trucking companies in one California apartment complex.
125+ trucking companies in another California apt complex.
Some of the apt units have 2-9+ trucking companies
These people are running circles around the FMCSA.
I’m not one to point out problems without offering solutions, so I vibe-coded my first move should someone decide to hand me the keys to the USDOT/FMCSA registration system. When a new applicant matches anything (name, address, phone, email), they do not automatically get a pass. They go straight to the review pile.
If you’ve already burned down one house, you don’t get to build another on the same stupid foundation. Shut down the companies, and most of the problems solve themselves. No company = No employer = No driver on the road.
Recent media things.
SuperTalk 99.7: Dem’s ICE Tracker SCANDAL as Illegal Trucker Kills Three with Chris Hand
What a privilege it is to speak up for the industry that made me who I am.
If you made it this far and you’re thinking that some of this didn’t make sense, please know I am tired. I’m running on caffeine, nicotine, and Patriotism. A 72-hour nap is desperately needed.
Until next time.
-Danielle (maybe)