After a sleeping tractor-trailer driver slammed into stopped traffic and killed six, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced an investigation into some "unacceptable" discrepancies regarding the truck and driver.
"Unqualified drivers shouldn’t be on the road and shady operators shouldn’t be in business," Duffy posted on Wednesday. The DOT "has found several warning signs in this tragic crash, including discrepancies in vehicle registrations that are unacceptable," he added. The National Transportation Safety Board "is leading investigations into the cause of the crash," with DOT support "every step of the way."
The crash, which took place on Saturday, June, 28, happened when Alexis Osmani Gonzalez-Companioni, male, 27 of Kissimmee, Florida, fell asleep at the wheel of a 2025 Peterbilt pulling a trailer and ran into already-stopped traffic, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety report obtained by Overdrive.
The result was a chain reaction of crashes that involved seven other vehicles and, tragically, six deaths, according to local news. Four of the six dead were in a single 2018 Ford F-150 pickup and appear to be three generations of a single family.
Gonzalez-Companioni sustained non-incapacitating injuries and was transported to a local hospital along with four others, two of which had to be flown to a nearby hospital.
Gonzalez-Companioni appears to have formerly led a socialist students group in Cuba before moving to Miami in 2020, a Cuban news website reported in 2020. Local news reported Gonzalez-Companioni drove for Hope Trans LLC, an Orlando, Florida-based fleet with 65 trucks and 80 drivers, according to its most recent filing with FMCSA.
Florida's Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle department issues thousands of non-domiciled CDLs each year, according to department statistics provided to Overdrive. In President Donald Trump's recent executive order mandating English language proficiency among truck drivers in the U.S., Duffy's DOT was instructed to review state issuance of these type of CDLs, which often go to non-citizens in the country with work authorization.
[Related: Ban non-domiciled CDLs for foreign drivers? Owner-ops weigh in]
The NTSB said that, "in coordination with the Texas Department of Public Safety, has opened a safety investigation into Saturday’s multi-vehicle crash involving commercial and passenger vehicles on Interstate 20 in Terrell, Texas."
NTSB's investigation "will look at safety issues such as driver performance and motor carrier safety as part of its investigation. These issues can have a national impact on the nation’s highways for the traveling public. A preliminary report should be available in about 30 days," the spokesperson continued.
Asked if NTSB will look into Gonzalez-Companioni's citizenship status or where he got his CDL, the spokesperson said that "is not in the purview of the NTSB."
Overdrive asked the broader DOT if it would look into the citizenship status or type of CDL Gonzalez-Companioni held and will update this article if we hear back.
Just one day before the crash, Duffy announced the DOT was "launching a nationwide audit into state practices in issuing non-domiciled Commercial Driver's Licenses (CDLs), specifically reviewing the potential for unqualified individuals obtaining licenses and posing a hazard on our roads."
Overdrive's survey on the topic of non-domiciled CDLs indicates that nearly half of respondents object to issuing CDLs to non-citizens on either safety or competitive grounds, saying foreign-domiciled workers hurt driver wages. An additional 26% doubted that people from other countries can succeed as safe drivers without long experience on U.S. roads.
[Related: DOT looking into states' non-domiciled CDLs, legislation aims at ELP]
