Lawsuit against trucking company in I-20 drowsy driving crash cites former employees as proof of safety violations

A wrongful death lawsuit that cites former employees has been brought against the trucking company involved in a fatal drowsy driving pile up crash earlier this summer. 

The deadly June 28th pile up on Interstate 20 near Dallas, Texas left five people dead and resulted in the incarceration of truck driver Alexis Osmani Gonzalez-Companioni. At the end of August, the trucking company involved in the crash, Hope Trans, was given 60 days to take “substantive corrective actions” to fix multiple violations discovered by the FMCSA. This week, a wrongful death lawsuit was brought against Hope Trans citing former employees as proof of ongoing safety violations. 

According to WFAA, The lawsuit was filed in Dallas County on behalf of the family of Nicole LaJeunesse Gregory, who was killed in the crash. The lawsuit names Hope Trans, owner Aishat Magomedova and broker Covenant Logistics of prioritizing profit over safety by assigning a solo driver to a US Postal run legally required to have team drivers. Postal service policy mandates that any runs longer than 500 miles use team drivers, while the I-20 crash had only Gonzalez-Companioni, who allegedly fell asleep at the wheel. 

“This case is about risks ignored at every level…,” the lawsuit states. “By exposing these egregious violations and reckless choices, Plaintiffs aim to prevent future tragedies and advocate for safer practices throughout the trucking industry.”

The lawsuit cites a former Hope Trans truck driver who claims that he warned the broker, Covenant Logistics, that Hope Trans was breaking the team driver policy. That driver claims that he had driven a 1,900 run from Atlanta to Phoenix in 34 hours with very little rest. He states that Hope Trans backdated bills of landing to skirt the required 10 hour break. He says that the company told drivers that “showing original documents can lead to a major violation. Always keep the provided BOL ready and hide any original paperwork.” He also states that there were several codes used by drivers and the company to secretly request more driving hours that would legally be a violation such as “I need a coffee.”

“These calculated and reckless practices routinely pushed drivers like Defendant Gonzalez-Companioni beyond their physical limits, jeopardizing public safety and making tragedies like this inevitable,” the lawsuit states. 

The suit also alleges that Covenant Logistics acted with “gross negligence” by failing to take action when federal data showed Hope Trans had an unusually high crash rate. Hope Trans drivers have logged dozens more violations since the crash, and the company’s insurance is scheduled for cancellation on October 8th.