Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Thursday that the department would launch an investigation into Solomun Weldekeal Araya, the truck driver involved the recent pileup on I-35 In Texas that killed five and injured 17. The fleet for whom Araya was driving at the time, ZBN Transport LLC, also was subject of the investigation.
Araya, a 37-year-old pulling an Amazon load at the time, “failed to slow down” and slammed into a line of cars in a construction area on I-35 near Austin, Texas, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Austin Police arrested Araya on five counts of Intoxication Manslaughter and two counts of Intoxication Assault.
A police report from the incident said Araya was on central-nervous-system depressants at the time of the crash.
“We have an ongoing investigation into this driver and ZBN Transport. We will make criminal referrals to the relevant authorities if appropriate,” Duffy posted on X on Thursday around noon, retweeting a long thread from the @SarahisCensored account.
At around the same time, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officials speaking at the Mid-America Trucking Show fielded shouted questions from the crowd on the issue of non-domiciled CDLs and drivers who do not speak English.
FMCSA Chief Counsel Jesse Elison said those were “live issues” that would be addressed “in the near future.”
[Related: FMCSA Chief Counsel on deregulating trucking, English proficiency, non-domiciled CDLs]
