A former driver for Hope Trans says the company falsified records and broke federal safety laws.
TERRELL, Texas — A former truck driver for Hope Trans LLC says the horror of Saturday’s deadly crash on I-20 in Terrell hit him like a gut punch.
“My heart just kind of dropped like, man, like 1 week, 2 weeks ago, that could have been me,” he said.
Five people were killed. The truck’s driver, who was driving for Hope Trans, told police he had fallen asleep behind the wheel, according to an affidavit.
The former Hope Trans driver — who asked that his identity be concealed — said he wasn’t surprised.
“There was just so many red flags,” he said.
The driver provided WFAA a copy of his employment agreement with Hope Trans. He also shared documentation of a 1,900-mile trip he made in June from Atlanta to Phoenix. He says he made the drive in about 34 hours.
“They pressured me into this load,” he said. “I next-day shipped it from Atlanta all the way to Phoenix off of three hours of sleep.”
Federal law limits truckers to no more than 11 hours of driving a day, followed by a 10-hour rest period, but the former driver claimed the company was able to get around that.
He provided WFAA a copy of the original bill of lading, a crucial document that outlines the details of a shipment, which was dated June 9, and one that had been backdated to June 8.
The trucker also said the electronic driving logs were changed to reflect that he had more hours than he was eligible to drive.
“I could have quit,” he said. I could have said no. But … I was one paycheck loss away from my wife and kids losing our house.”
He also shared a message that he says came from the company instructing drivers of the following : “Do not show the original bill of lading.”
“Do not show your fuel receipts,” it read. “Showing the original documents can lead to a major violation!! Always keep the provided BOL ready and hide any original paperwork. Stay safe and compliant.”
“This is coercion,” said Dale Prax, who runs Freight Validate, a company that tracks fraud and identity theft in trucking. “They’re coercing this guy to do something that everybody from the company safety folks to the entire industry knows what they’re doing is illegal.”
Federal records show Hope Trans has been repeatedly cited for drivers “driving beyond the 11-hour driving limit.”
“They just acted like they didn’t know how to dispatch within the law,” the former driver said.
Questions about the company’s practices extend beyond the road. Hope Trans listed its business address as a co-working space in Tacoma, Washington, but staff there told WFAA’s content partner, KING 5, that the company only got mail there and had no physical presence.
That matters because, under federal law, trucking companies must list a “principal place of business” with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration — a physical location where driver and safety records are kept and where federal inspectors can show up unannounced.
“If I was an investigator and I went to look at those records, you know, within 24 hours of the accident, where would I find them?” Prax asked.
Two days after the crash, records show the business address for the company was changed from Washington State to an apartment in Orlando.
“Why did they have that address in Washington at a virtual office in the first place?” Prax said.
Earlier this year, WFAA exposed how dozens of trucking companies used virtual addresses to skirt federal oversight. One Dallas mailbox location alone was tied to 20 carriers. In California, nearly 700 freight companies were linked to a single address — about 500 of them using the same email: WTFFMCSA@aol.com.
“We’re finding that a huge percentage of the bad guys use the virtual office address because they don’t want to be tracked,” Prax said. “They don’t want to be found.”
WFAA repeatedly reached out to Hope Trans CEO Aishat Magomedova for comment. She did not respond. After reporters contacted her, her LinkedIn profile and the company’s Facebook page vanished.
“Companies like this, it’s a very big problem,” the trucker said. “There’s probably thousands and thousands of trucks just like these people on the road that have not gotten any sleep, and it’s hard to put a stop to it.”
Federal regulators say they’re looking into the matter with the company, and on Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted WFAA’s report from Monday, saying he’s directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to expand its investigation.
If you or anyone you know has driven for Hope Trans LLC, WFAA Investigates wants to hear from you. Submit a tip via email to investigates@wfaa.com.