Super Ego Holding, a Serbian transport company operating in America, found itself in the spotlight yesterday following the show “60 Minutes” on the CBS channel, in which industry interlocutors accused it of concealing a poor safety history by changing its identity, continuing to operate under new names without consequences for previous violations.
Additionally, some former Super Ego drivers, both openly and under hidden identities, accuse the company of being pressured to work longer than allowed, along with the manipulation of working hours and reduction of earnings through hidden costs. Some state that their delivery contracts were changed in order to reduce their payouts.
Today, Super Ego also spoke out, aiming to, as it says, “respond to the misleading allegations of the show ’60 Minutes’ and clarify its role as a leasing company based in the USA.”
In the statement that Super Ego sent to the media, it says the following:
“The company Super Ego Holding, a leasing house based in the USA, is committed to transparency, compliance with regulations, and high standards of professional conduct,” the company says, and adds:
“The company calls on the public and the media to understand a key fact that the mentioned segment completely ignored: Super Ego is an equipment leasing company, not a transport company (carrier). Every claim made in the segment, including allegations about driver working hours, DOT rates, DOT numbers, and salaries, is incorrect and stems from this fundamental misunderstanding.
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The American transport industry consists of various participants with clearly defined roles and functions. Leasing companies, like Super Ego, rent trucks and trailers to third parties and individuals. This means that we do not perform cargo transport. In contrast, transport companies (carriers), licensed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), manage the actual movement of goods and bear full regulatory responsibility for their drivers, compliance with working hours, insurance, and responsibility for cargo. Independent owner-operators who lease vehicles from Super Ego or other leasing houses work under their own license or under contract with a transport company of their own choice.”
Super Ego claims that it leases equipment to more than 1,200 licensed transport companies.
“Those carriers employ their own drivers and dispatchers and have full authority over them. Super Ego does not employ, pay, or supervise drivers or dispatchers who are not its employees or independent associates. When a driver for a certain carrier comes to a Super Ego facility to pick up a truck bearing the Super Ego name, or causes dangerous conditions on the road, that driver works for that carrier, and not for Super Ego. The segment was particularly misleading because it exclusively showed videos of Super Ego trailers, while carrier trailers have no marking obligation and are rarely connected to the carrier operating the truck.
Super Ego Holding also states that it operates a subsidiary in the field of freight brokerage called Super Ego Logistics, which operates as Gray Falcon United.
“Since its founding, Gray Falcon has collaborated with more than 6,000 interstate carriers licensed with their own active authorities. Gray Falcon is a licensed freight broker that connects shippers with carriers. It is not a carrier and does not exercise operational control over either shippers or carriers,” the statement from the Super Ego Holding company concludes.