Five people were killed in June when a semi hauling U.S. mail slammed into a line of stopped cars on Interstate 20 near Terrell, Texas. 

The driver, Alexis Osmani Gonzalez-Companioni, told investigators he fell asleep behind the wheel.  

The truck belonged to Hope Trans LLC, a company with a troubling safety record. Federal data shows Hope Trans trucks were involved in four other injury crashes in the past 12 months and failed 35.4% of vehicle inspections over the past two years – well above the national average of 23.1%. Its drivers were also repeatedly cited for falsifying or failing to log their hours. 

Before overseeing Hope Trans LLC, the same people operated other trucking companies with histories of crashes and safety violations.  

Yet despite the deadly incidents and repeated shutdowns, they – and others like them – continue hauling U.S. mail, taking advantage of weak oversight that puts lives at risk and avoids accountability. 

"This wasn't an accident," said John Nohinek of the Witherite Law Group, an attorney for a family that lost four people in the Terrell crash. "This was a time bomb waiting to go off." 

A pattern of shutdowns and new companies 

At the time of the crash, Hope Trans listed Aishat Magomedova as its CEO. Florida records show the company changed the registered agent on record to Todd August days after the crash. Magomedova and her husband, Sarvar Muradov, have been connected to at least three other trucking companies – all of which shut down following safety issues. 

One of those companies, Kardan Trucking, was involved in a 16-vehicle pileup in Iowa in 2023 that killed two people. Less than a month earlier, another Kardan driver died in a separate crash in Iowa. Kardan shut down later that year. 

The CBS News Texas I-Team traced more than a dozen of its trucks, using VINs from federal inspection records, to Bee Zone Logistics, also run by Muradov. When Bee Zone stopped operating, those same trucks reappeared under Hope Trans LLC. 

A system lacking oversight 

The crash near Terrell was not the first time a truck contracted to haul U.S. mail was involved in a fatal crash. 

A 2024 government audit found 43 different contractors were involved in at least 373 crashes between 2018 and 2022, resulting in 89 deaths. However, the audit also found the Postal Service "did not always know who was authorized to transport the mail" and "did not track contractor accidents and fatalities."  

In 2022, a semi hauling U.S. mail crashed into an SUV near Denver, killing five members of the Godinez family, including a 3-month-old baby. The trucking company, Lucky 22 Inc., had no insurance, the driver was not properly licensed and the truck had defective brakes, according to the family's lawsuit. Like Hope Trans, Lucky 22 had a history of safety violations and was subcontracted to haul mail for the Postal Service. It has since shut down. 

"When is enough, enough?" asked Abigail Godinez, whose parents and brother were killed in the crash. "When are they going to recognize the problem lies with hiring these negligent companies?" 

Following the crash, the Godinez family wrote to Congress urging reform. Earlier this year, lawmakers introduced the Mail Traffic Death Reporting Act of 2025, which would require the Postal Service to track and report fatal crashes involving mail-hauling trucks.

The bill passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support in March, but has stalled in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs without a hearing. When the I-Team reached out to members on the committee, Senate staff said they intend to review the bill.  

In response to questions from CBS News Texas, the Postal Service said: "Contractors are required to comply with all applicable state and federal laws. The Postal Service is aware of this accident, which is the subject of an ongoing investigation. We cannot comment further at this time." 

Still on the highways 

After the June crash, Hope Trans trucks continued operating across the country. 

GenLogs, a company that collects truck data using roadside cameras, spotted Hope Trans vehicles in 24 states, including Texas, in the weeks following the fatal crash. Since then, Hope Trans drivers have been cited in North Carolina and Colorado for violating federal hours-of-service rules. 

"What's most shocking to me is that someone continues to give them loads," said GenLogs CEO Ryan Joyce. "Despite a crash that killed five people, freight brokers are still assigning loads to Hope Trans LLC. That's really disappointing." 

Hope Trans has not responded to multiple requests for comment. Covenant, the broker that hired Hope Trans to haul mail, said in a statement it is cooperating with the investigation and expects Hope Trans to do the same.