The crew of the show "60 Minutes" talked to seven drivers TRUCKS in America who told them that the managers from Serbia of the company "Super ego" routinely cheated them and reduced their salary on account of additional insurance, benefits and repairs.
The journalists of this show claim that the scheme, which they called "chameleon-carriers", allows companies to avoid responsibility for security violations so that the company under which the truck drives is shut down when violations accumulate. Then another company is opened, and the new company name is stuck on the trucks.
"They're just asking how to make money from the drivers. They don't care about safety standards," the whistleblower told "60 Minutes," who worked for a Super Ego-related company based in Serbia.
This is exactly the company that was mentioned as the alleged donor for the dinner of the Republican Party, which, again allegedly, the Serbian delegation with President Aleksandar Vučić was supposed to attend.
Serbian entrepreneur
The company was founded by Serbian entrepreneur Aleksandar Mimić, and research has shown that key parts of operations, such as dispatch centers and driver management, take place directly from Belgrade. A whistleblower who worked in the Belgrade office told "60 Minutes" that management in Serbia trains employees to exploit drivers without any regard for the law.
He claims that dispatchers in Serbia are not interested in safety standards, but only in how to get money from drivers. One of the drivers also spoke for the show, claiming that the company extracted money in all possible ways.
"They would make me go out and do anything to get money, no matter the risk. They don't care if I got a misdemeanor or went to jail, whatever, for any reason. The next day, they'd put another driver in that truck and keep going," said Daniel Sanchez, who drove for Super Ego on a lease-to-buy contract.
Sanchez told CBS reporters that because of the fees the company imposed on drivers, he was coming home with a negative check even though he worked hard. As an example, he mentioned exactly that the identity of the truck was changed by the driver printing out new data and sticking it on the door with adhesive tape, which, according to him, would make it a completely new truck.
About 800 drivers who worked for "Super ego" launched a joint lawsuit against the company.
Vučić's incursion and the Republicans
According to American laws, the financing of the dinner by Mimić's company could be subject to foreign influence on political life, which is prohibited because "Super ego" is registered in America, but it is a delegation of another country. Mimić told Insider that it was "incorrect information about his company".
In August 2022, a lawsuit was filed against the company "Super ego" by former workers, i.e. truck drivers, who claimed that they were defrauded. According to the indictment, "Super ego" was obliged to pay the truck drivers 88 percent of the value of each load, but they claim that the company reduced the value of the entire load and thus the profit for the drivers.
The legal representative of the former drivers of the "Super ego" company, Chicago lawyer Chris Willems told Insider that so far more than 800 drivers have joined this class action against the "Super ego holding" company. The lawsuit refers to the period from 2019, and as he says, reducing the price of freight was just one of the ways for the company to profit from its drivers.
"For example, according to the contract, the drivers were obliged to pay the fuel costs through the company card. According to the indictment, "Super ego" had a significant discount for fuel, but they charged the drivers at the price at which it is sold at the pumps. Drivers used to drive all week afterwards just to break even, to pay for fuel and truck rental. Many drivers had a negative balance for us after one week - they would drive all week, and instead of a salary they would receive a bill", says Willems.
Aleksandar Mimić told Insider at the time that these were private lawsuits, that is, they were not filed by the prosecution. This, says Mimic, is common for large companies in America.
"We are not at all an exception when it comes to these lawsuits. At one point, the company grew to such a size that it started to become a target. At first, I took these things a little personally, I thought they were not fair, but the consultants explained to me that this is an integral part of the business and that this is how the American corporate system works," Mimic told Insider.
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Source: CBS/Insider
