GEORGIA — Mike Collins, a Republican U.S. House member from Georgia who owns a trucking business and sits on the House Transportation Committee, has made restricting commercial driver’s licenses for noncitizen truckers a centerpiece of his campaign for U.S. Senate. An investigative report has found that over the past 25 years, truckers working for his family’s business have been involved in crashes that killed five people and injured more than 50 others — while Collins has opposed safety technologies that experts say could reduce serious crashes.
Collins has not responded to requests for comment on his business’s safety record or his policy positions.
Collins’ Position on Noncitizen CDLs
Collins has been among the loudest advocates for the Trump administration’s push to revoke commercial driver’s licenses from nearly 200,000 noncitizen drivers. He has described the effort as “purely a safety issue” and has said that drivers who cannot read English road signs do not belong behind the wheel.
However, the Trump administration’s own initial analysis of the rule found that there is not sufficient evidence from rigorous quantitative analysis to demonstrate a measurable relationship between a trucker’s citizenship status and safety outcomes. A letter from nearly 20 Democratic state attorneys general noted that the administration cited only five fatal crashes in 2025 caused by noncitizens with CDLs out of more than 4,000 CDL-related deaths nationwide, and argued the rule presented no facts to support the claim that revoking thousands of licenses would benefit public safety. A legal challenge to the rule filed by public interest lawyers remains pending.
Collins’ Safety Record at His Own Company
An analysis of federal motor vehicle data from the past two years found that Collins’ trucking business has a higher rate of unsafe driving and speeding violations per mile than the majority of trucking companies with substantial mileage. The company’s recent crash rate sits around the median of similar companies, while the rate of injury from those crashes sits in the top fifth.
Over the past 25 years, the company’s fleet — which hauls timber, tires, and steel for clients including Georgia-Pacific and operates approximately 100 trucks — has been involved in more than 90 crashes resulting in at least 51 injuries and five deaths, according to federal data, court filings, and police records.
In one case in 2007, a Collins trucker crossed into oncoming traffic on a North Carolina highway and struck a Honda CR-V, killing both the trucker and the other driver. Court filings indicate both parties agreed to a $1 million payout from the company’s liability insurer. The company stated the trucker had been stricken by a physical impairment beyond his control.
In 2021, a Collins trucker allegedly switched lanes on an Indiana highway and collided with another vehicle. The driver claimed she sustained injuries that forced her to leave nursing school. The company denied wrongdoing and the case was later settled for an undisclosed amount.
In 2023, a Collins trucker allegedly failed to stop in time approaching a red light in northeast Georgia, causing a four-vehicle crash. Two drivers filed lawsuits claiming serious injuries, with one claiming medical costs exceeding $120,000 for back, knee, and neck treatment. The company denied wrongdoing and settled both cases for undisclosed amounts.
In a separate earlier incident, a Collins trucker who had pleaded no contest to drunk driving earlier in the year was later involved in a crash after losing control of his trailer. The trucker subsequently pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of cocaine. The business fired the trucker after the crash.
Collins’ Opposition to Safety Technologies
Collins has opposed two proposed safety mandates that experts say could reduce serious crashes — speed limiters and automatic emergency braking systems.
On speed limiters, Collins told a congressional hearing that the federal government should not require the devices, arguing that insurance companies and speed limit signs were sufficient deterrents. His position stood at odds with the American Trucking Associations — whose membership includes Collins’ own company — which expressed support for capping truck speeds between 65 and 70 mph. The Trump administration ultimately withdrew the speed limiter proposal in 2025.
On automatic emergency braking, Collins said at congressional hearings that the technology was expensive and did not work well enough to justify a mandate. Federal officials had estimated the requirement could prevent more than 8,000 injuries per year. ATA supported much of the proposal. Collins’ own company has used the systems in some of its trucks. The Trump administration has since delayed the rule and may narrow its scope.
Safety experts cited in the investigation said both technologies are proven to reduce the likelihood of crashes causing serious injuries and deaths. “These are proven technologies,” said Zach Cahalan, executive director of the Truck Safety Coalition. “They would protect those we hold dear on our roads from horrific tragedy.”
Collins has said his decades in the trucking business make him more attuned to which safety measures actually work. “We want to be safe,” he said at a congressional hearing. “I don’t know of a trucking company out there that doesn’t want to be safe. And when they are not safe, they are taken off the road.”
Investigation by ProPublica.
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