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- The investigation examined an eight-month trucking safety investigation. CBS News travelled to truck stops in Florida and interviewed sources in Europe to investigate so-called chameleon carriers, focusing on Super Ego Holding, a network of Serbian and US-based trucking and leasing companies facing a federal investigation and a class-action lawsuit.
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- Chameleon carriers evade safety enforcement by repeatedly changing their corporate identities. When a trucking company accumulates serious safety violations, its operators dissolve or abandon the existing company, establish another carrier under a different name and Department of Transportation (DOT) number, and continue operating with substantially the same trucks and drivers.
- Rob Carpenter has tracked the growth of chameleon carriers since the pandemic. A former trucker with 25 years of experience who now works as a trucking safety consultant, Carpenter described the business model as deliberately operating a carrier until its safety record becomes too damaging, then abandoning that identity and starting another.
- Changing a carrier's DOT number can effectively erase its visible safety history from prospective customers' checks. Undercover footage recorded by another trucker showed the same drivers and trucks continuing operations after a carrier identity change, with hundreds of previous violations no longer appearing under the new carrier's record.
- The scheme can be established through a relatively inexpensive and straightforward registration process. The investigation described networks, often operated from Eastern Europe, India and Central Asia, establishing US companies under different names and ownership structures, registering with the DOT and obtaining minimal insurance. The reported process can produce a registered trucking company within 21 days.
- Foreign ownership does not prevent someone from establishing a US trucking company. The investigation explained that there is no requirement for the owner to be American and that a company can reportedly be established remotely, with approximately $1,000 and an online application.
- Carpenter estimated that 10–20% of approximately 700,000 US trucking companies operate somewhere within the chameleon-carrier spectrum. That percentage would imply approximately 70,000–140,000 companies if applied directly to the total, although the segment did not provide the methodology behind the estimate.
- The reported violations extend beyond corporate identity changes. They include poor vehicle maintenance, excessive driving hours, drug and alcohol use, and other safety violations, with companies allegedly avoiding meaningful federal enforcement by continually changing their identities.
- The scale of the trucking industry makes the problem particularly consequential. Carpenter contrasted approximately 700,000 trucking companies with 260 million other Americans sharing the country's highways, arguing that trucking operators have an ethical responsibility to protect everyone using the roads.
- The investigation cited more than 5,300 truck-related deaths in 2024. Data gathered by risk assessment firm Fusable indicated that chameleon carriers were four times more likely to be involved in a crash than other carriers.
- A Super Ego-connected truck was involved in a serious school bus collision. The tractor-trailer was travelling at 72 miles per hour when it struck a school bus, critically injuring two children.
- Super Ego-connected carriers accumulated almost 15,000 safety violations and 500 accidents over two years. These figures were attributed to Department of Transportation data covering carriers connected to the Super Ego network.
- Federal trucking safety enforcement has a substantial personnel shortage. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) had approximately 350 investigators responsible for overseeing all 700,000 trucking companies operating on US roads.
- The FMCSA acknowledged that its enforcement systems need substantial improvement. Administrator Derek Bars, who took over the agency in October, said regulators were seeking more efficient and effective ways to conduct investigations.
- The FMCSA was attempting to recruit another 40 investigators. Bars said the agency was actively trying to hire these additional personnel while preparing to introduce a new registration system later that year.
- The existing federal registration system was approximately 40 years old. Bars acknowledged that the agency had a problem at the point where new trucking companies enter the regulatory system, describing the need to prevent problematic operators from entering in the first place rather than relying exclusively on enforcement afterward.
- Regulators had already increased scrutiny of other parts of the commercial trucking industry. The administrator cited recent crackdowns on foreign commercial truck drivers and fraudulent commercial driving schools, while promising that chameleon carriers would also receive attention.
- Super Ego was already part of an ongoing federal investigation. When asked whether the company was on the FMCSA's radar, Bars confirmed that it was under investigation. He also said the agency had identified ten priority companies through its data-gathering work, although he did not explicitly establish that Super Ego was among those ten.
- Super Ego's lawyers disputed the company's responsibility for affiliated trucking operations. They told CBS News that Super Ego Holding was a leasing company rather than a trucking firm and should not be held responsible for the actions of affiliated carriers and their drivers.
- The investigation and court documents presented a more extensive picture of Super Ego's business structure. The network allegedly consisted of separate but coordinated companies operating between Serbia and the United States, including freight brokers, dispatchers and businesses leasing tractors and trailers.
- Super Ego's affiliated subsidiaries operated trucks and recruited drivers through lease-to-own agreements. This structure allowed different companies within the wider network to perform different functions, while drivers worked under arrangements that required them to make payments toward obtaining ownership of their trucks.
- Super Ego was founded by Serbian entrepreneur Aleksandar Mehanic. Its branded trucks began hauling freight across America approximately seven years before the investigation, and the enterprise had grown to include connections with more than two dozen US-based trucking carriers.
- The network had important US operational hubs and major commercial customers. The investigation identified Elmhurst, Illinois, and Jacksonville, Florida, as locations associated with the business. Customers included major companies such as Amazon, Walmart, Costco and the United States Postal Service. The report did not suggest that these customers were involved in the alleged misconduct.
- Super Ego used aggressive recruitment campaigns to attract American truck drivers. Its advertisements promoted the opportunity to obtain a favourable deal and encouraged drivers to join its trucking operation.
- Drivers were reportedly promised earnings of $8,000–$12,000 per week. Daniel Sanchez, one of the recruited drivers, said the company promised substantial weekly earnings but failed to deliver on those assurances.
- CBS News interviewed seven drivers who described systematic deductions from their earnings. They alleged that Serbia-based managers deducted hundreds or thousands of dollars through excessive charges for truck leases, insurance and repairs.
- Some drivers finished their work with negative paychecks despite driving hundreds of miles daily. One driver described travelling approximately 600–800 miles per day and returning home with no earnings or even a negative balance after company deductions.
- The drivers' allegations form part of a class-action lawsuit accusing Super Ego and affiliated companies of defrauding truckers. The lawsuit describes a scheme in which drivers were allegedly deprived of money through excessive charges and other contractual practices.
- Drivers alleged that dispatchers altered freight delivery contracts to reduce their compensation. These documents, commonly called rate confirmations or rate cons, establish how much a freight broker has agreed to pay for transporting a shipment. Drivers receive an agreed percentage of that amount.
- Court documents showed an allegedly fraudulent rate confirmation with a $700 reduction from the original payment. The investigation displayed an original document alongside an altered version that reduced the amount payable, resulting in lower compensation for the driver.
- A recorded conversation illustrated how drivers questioned discrepancies between broker payments and their own compensation. One driver said the broker had agreed to pay $1,500, but a dispatcher subsequently told him he would receive only $300. He asked the dispatcher to provide the original document so he could understand the discrepancy.
- Daniel Sanchez said he was personally instructed to help conceal carrier identity changes. He described receiving documentation showing a new company name and DOT number, printing it, purchasing duct tape and physically attaching the new information to the truck.
- The identity-changing process was sufficiently informal to involve physically covering the old company information. Sanchez explained that the truck would then appear to belong to a new carrier, despite continuing to operate within the same wider business arrangement.
- Drivers alleged that managers in Serbia manipulated federally mandated driving-hour records. After drivers had already completed the legal maximum of 11 hours behind the wheel, managers allegedly reset their electronic timekeeping systems to make it appear that the drivers had additional hours available.
- Managers allegedly controlled the application used to monitor drivers' working hours. In a recorded conversation, a dispatcher discussed fixing a driver's clock to accommodate a delivery deadline, suggesting that the system could be reset remotely.
- Sanchez described being pressured to drive far beyond safe working limits. He recalled one occasion when he had driven approximately 18 hours and told management he needed to park and sleep. The response, according to Sanchez, was that the company was not paying him to do anything other than use the restroom and drive.
- The investigation interviewed a protected whistleblower who had previously worked for a Super Ego-affiliated company in Serbia. CBS News met him in an undisclosed European city and altered his appearance to protect his identity.
- The former employee said managers and dispatchers were trained to prioritise extracting money from American drivers rather than maintaining safety standards. He described the practices as normalised within the organisation and said employees were instructed to overwork and financially exploit drivers.
- The whistleblower described severe financial consequences for drivers and their families. He said drivers frequently lacked sufficient money to pay their bills, buy food or cover their rent because of the deductions imposed on their earnings.
- The whistleblower described a workplace culture in which drivers were treated primarily as revenue sources. He said dispatchers were encouraged to extract as much money as possible from each driver and that management's financial interests took priority over drivers' welfare.
- Taking money from drivers allegedly became a competition among dispatchers. According to the former employee, lists displaying the amounts taken from drivers were posted inside the company's Belgrade office, creating a visible ranking of employees based on how much money they extracted.
- Dispatcher bonuses were reportedly tied to the amount deducted from drivers' pay. The whistleblower said employees received larger bonuses when they took more money from drivers.
- One dispatcher allegedly deducted nearly $24,000, representing approximately 32% of drivers' pay during a particular pay period. The figure was presented as an example of the scale of deductions encouraged by the internal incentive system.
- The whistleblower estimated that the company generated $1 million–$2 million per week through this financial extraction. When asked how much of the company's profit was earned this way, he gave those weekly figures. The investigation did not independently establish or audit the estimate.
- Daniel Sanchez had eight years of commercial trucking experience before joining Super Ego in 2025. He said the company recruited him with promises of improved earnings and the opportunity to achieve his ambition of owning his own truck.
- Sanchez said management encouraged him to take risks regardless of the potential consequences. He alleged that managers were indifferent to whether a driver received violations or went to jail because another driver could simply be assigned to the same truck and operations would continue.
- Sanchez believed the company's approach endangered both its drivers and other road users. He said management appeared prepared to continue operating regardless of the consequences for individual drivers.
- Sanchez lost his job and truck in January following a compliance dispute. He also lost the $35,000 he had contributed toward owning the vehicle, undermining his ambition of becoming an independent truck owner.
- The financial loss had a significant personal impact on Sanchez. He described the experience as devastating because he had believed the company would help him achieve his dream of owning a truck. He said he ultimately felt treated as a number rather than a human being.
- Super Ego Holding denied wrongdoing. Despite the company's denial, more than 800 truckers were suing Super Ego and affiliated companies for alleged fraud and breach of contract.
- The investigation was part of a continuing CBS News reporting series. The programme announced that additional coverage of chameleon carriers would appear on Sunday Morning.