Illinois trucker warns foreign firms faking logs, dodging rules, risking
safety
[August 21, 2025]
By Catrina Barker | The Center Square contributor
(The Center Square) – After a recent deadly crash in Florida and a crash
in Illinois involving semi-trucks, an Illinois trucking company owner is
sounding the alarm about industry troubles, warning that electronic
logging devices are being manipulated by foreign carriers and lax
enforcement is putting lives at risk.
Zach Meiborg, of Meiborg Brothers Trucking and Logistics based in
Rockford, is sounding the alarm about what he describes as a growing
crisis in the U.S. trucking industry, one fueled by foreign-owned
companies exploiting weak enforcement.
“This is a racket being run against one of the most vital industries to
our economy—surface transportation,” said Meiborg. “It’s being fueled by
the inadequate enforcement of current regulations.”
According to Meiborg, many of the companies involved are operated from
Eastern Europe – Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, and Turkey among them – and
are recruiting drivers to the U.S. using H-1B visas. He claims these
firms bring in workers with little training, sometimes limited English
proficiency, and put them directly behind the wheel of semi-trucks after
brief orientations.
“They’re classifying drivers as W-2 employees but paying them like 1099
contractors. That lets them dodge Affordable Care Act health insurance
requirements and violate long-standing Department of Labor rules under
the ABC test,” Meiborg explained.
The ABC test is a legal standard that determines whether a worker is an
employee or an independent contractor. To be classified as a contractor,
the hiring company must prove three things: the worker is free from the
company’s control, the job is outside the company’s normal business, and
the worker runs an independent business. If any of those conditions
aren’t met, the worker is considered an employee.
Meiborg said some foreign-owned carriers are tampering with electronic
logging devices (ELD) to erase hours, letting drivers run 17–18 hours a
day despite federal limits of 11 per day and 70 in eight days.
“This isn’t new, it happened for years with paper logs, but now they’re
doing it digitally,” he said. “Some companies will literally show a
driver only worked five hours when he’s been behind the wheel for 18.”
Beyond logbook manipulation, Meiborg says some foreign-owned carriers
underreport their fleets to cut insurance costs, leaving compliant
companies to subsidize them through an unaudited state insurance pool.
“If these companies can’t afford insurance, Illinois makes compliant
operators subsidize them through an unaudited state pool. The problem is
many carriers underreport their fleets, claiming 20 or 30 trucks when
they’re really running 200 or 300,” said Meiborg. “That’s fraud, and it
puts the public at risk because insurers can deny claims for
underreported exposure. The recent crashes [in Florida and in Illinois]
are just the tip of the iceberg.”
[to top of second column]
|
An Illinois State Police trooper investigates a semi truck -
Illinois State Police
One company frequently mentioned in industry circles is Super Ego
Holdings, which is facing a nationwide class-action lawsuit alleging
driver misclassification, wage theft, and violations of federal and
state labor laws. While the suit doesn’t specifically target ELD
violations, drivers report being pressured to falsify logbooks and
exceed legal driving hours.
“I would call in and say, ‘I can’t make this delivery because I need
a 10-hour break,’” former Super Ego driver and owner-operator Jay
Spinks recalled. “They’d hang up, call me back, and say, ‘Shut your
log down and turn it back on. You’ve got a fresh clock.’”
Spinks alleged this happened “on numerous occasions” and that he
left the company after just six weeks, concerned it would ruin his
career or put his commercial driver’s license at risk.
“It’s a very dangerous practice,” he said. “If drivers can’t take
breaks to sleep, you’re asking them to push themselves way further
than they should.”
According to court records, Donald Devitt and Charles Andrewscavage
are listed as legal counsel for Super Ego, The Center Square’s
attempts to reach Devit and Andrewscavage were unsuccessful.
Both Meiborg and Spinks argue the problem lies less with the drivers
– many of whom are recruited from poor backgrounds overseas – and
more with the companies and regulators.
“These guys were promised $30,000 to $40,000 a year to drive trucks
in America. They’re doing what they were told,” Meiborg said. “The
problem is they were never told it’s illegal. Our state and federal
agencies aren’t enforcing the laws equally, and that’s their job.”
Spinks said profit drives these companies, with log manipulation
boosting revenue. Meiborg warned the issue is a national security
risk, noting 10–15% of U.S. trucking is controlled by Serbian firms,
which could threaten the economy if scaled up.
“Imagine for a minute those private equities or foreign governments
start gobbling these companies up,” he said. “If 30% or 40% of the
trucks on U.S. highways are foreign-controlled and they decide to
shut them down, the impact on our economy would be catastrophic.
That’s a national security issue.”
 |
