Unsafe Highways and Illegal Carriers Aren't New. So What Got Us Here? Why So Focused On This in 2025?
A Common Illegal U-turn Fail, Two CDLs, Two States, Multi-State Chameleon Carriers and Brokers, Systematic Failures and 3 Dead. How Multiple Federal and State Agencies, as Well as A Motor Carrier, Fai
So why all the noise? Why now? Well, three families in South Florida will never be whole again because a truck driver with two illegal CDLs from different states, an impossibility under federal law, made an illegal U-turn across Florida's Turnpike on August 12, 2025. The deaths of these three innocent people expose a web of regulatory failures so extensive that it reads like a case study in how not to protect public safety.
This is Day 3 of our breakdown of the systemic failures that killed three people in Fort Pierce. Today, we examine how Harjinder Singh obtained Commercial Driver's Licenses from both California and Washington state despite being in the country illegally, and how his employer, White Hawk Carriers, operated as part of what experts call a "chameleon carrier" network, companies that reinvent themselves under new names to evade regulatory oversight.
The Dual License Violation
Federal law states that a person can hold only one valid CDL at a time, and states are prohibited from issuing CDLs to anyone who is not a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident. Yet Harjinder Singh managed to obtain licenses from two different states while being in the country illegally. A violation that should have triggered immediate federal intervention. The timeline looks something like this:
July 15, 2023: Washington State issued Singh a regular full-term Commercial Driver's License (CDL), which is illegal for asylum seekers or undocumented immigrants.
July 23, 2024: California issued Singh a limited-term/non-domiciled CDL while his Washington license was still active.
This represents a complete breakdown of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS), which exists specifically to prevent precisely this scenario. Singh's case suggests that our federal verification systems are either flawed or not being used effectively, or not at all.
Singh's work authorization was rejected under the Trump Administration on September 14, 2020, but was later approved under the Biden Administration on June 9, 2021. Yet this authorization to work, which experts say should never qualify someone for a CDL anyway, somehow became a pathway to operate CMVs on American highways.
The English Proficiency Shell Game
Nowhere is the regulatory failure more evident than in the enforcement of English language proficiency requirements. When FMCSA investigators tested Singh after the fatal crash, he failed, providing correct responses to just 2 of 12 verbal questions and accurately identifying only 1 of 4 highway traffic signs.
Yet this same driver had passed roadside inspections and interactions with law enforcement officers multiple times. On July 3, 2025, New Mexico State Police pulled Singh over for speeding. Newly released bodycam footage shows Singh struggling with limited English, asking, "Maybe in this, this my ticket, on my license, how many years?" in broken English that clearly confused the officer.
Despite new federal requirements that took effect June 25, 2025, requiring English Language Proficiency assessments during roadside inspections when communication issues arise, New Mexico State officials claim there were "no communication issues," despite their own bodycam footage showing the officer struggling to understand Singh's questions.
This represents a dangerous disconnect between field reality and regulatory enforcement. How many other drivers are operating commercial vehicles with equally limited English proficiency while passing through our enforcement networks? I have highlighted this in the past because enforcement can be so subjective from one state to another and even from one weigh scale to another. The enforcement or guidance you receive at one roadside might not be the same as the enforcement and guidance you get at one 50 miles down the road.
White Hawk Carriers and the Chameleon Network Working Out of a UPS Mailbox
The trucking company that employed Singh, White Hawk Carriers Inc., exemplifies everything wrong with how we monitor motor carriers in America. Federal records link White Hawk to a succession of trucking companies in California's Central Valley through shared contacts, addresses, and equipment, exhibiting patterns similar to those of "chameleon carriers" that resurface under new names following enforcement actions.
The White Star Connection and Multi-State Network
While California State Corporation records indicate White Hawk Carriers, Inc., was started by Navneet Kaur in 2016, Navneet Kaur was also listed as a Director for White Star Trucking out of Modesto, which closed in 2013. The connections run far deeper and now reveal a sophisticated multi-state network involving multiple individuals with similar names:
The Trucking-Brokerage Dual Operation:
White Hawk Carriers Inc. (USDOT 2866642, MC 960440) - The trucking company in Ceres, CA, that employed Singh.
White Hawk Carriers Inc. (USDOT 3710077, MC 1301740) - A separate brokerage entity operating since August 2021, which is operated by Harpreet Singh, who suddenly vanished off of Facebook with his Rolls-Royce the day of the Florida Crash.
The brokerage lists a Nevada physical address at 350 Harbour Cove Dr Apt 326, Sparks, NV 89434
Both entities share the same mailing address in Ceres, CA: 2908 E Whitmore Ave Ste H 293, which is actually a UPS Store mailbox service in a shopping center, not a legitimate business location.
Nevada corporate records show Harpreet Singh as the President of White Hawk Carriers Inc. (the Nevada brokerage entity), registered June 3, 2020, with the same Sparks apartment address listed as the brokerage's physical location.
Equipment and Contact Sharing:
From December 2017 to mid-2018, both White Hawk Carriers and Simran Trucklines Inc. listed the same contact email, whitehawkinc1@gmail.com, in their FMCSA filings
Of 18 semi-trailers listed under White Hawk Carriers, 12 also appear under other DOT numbers in this network
At least six trailer VINs are found in both White Hawk Carriers' and White Hawk USA's inspection histories
The phone number (209) 225-2480 appears to be shared between multiple entities
The www.whitestartrucking.com domain was still listed on White Hawks' Facebook page as of August 17, 2025, but was removed by the time my Freightwaves story on this was written.
Pattern of Violations
White Hawk's safety record reads like a manual on how not to operate a trucking company:
Driver Out-of-Service Rate: 13.4% compared to the national average of 6.67%, more than double the rate
Vehicle Out-of-Service Rate: 23.4% compared to the national average of 22.26%
Specific Violations: Data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration show more than 80 violations for the company over the past two years, including:
Multiple brake defects with at least 20% of brakes inoperative
Drivers operating while disqualified
Violations of air brake restrictions
Two drivers were caught driving on suspended licenses in 2024
Nine incidents of unsafe driving in the last two years, including inattentive driving, improper lane changes, speeding in work zones, and failure to move over for emergency vehicles
Insurance Cancellation and The Final Red Flag
White Hawk's insurance was already scheduled for cancellation by Great West on August 19, even before the fatal crash on August 12. This means Singh was operating under a carrier that was effectively a dead company walking yet no one stopped him from driving. My guess is that Singh knew the insurance was up for cancellation, which is why he asked the New Mexico troopers how long the ticket he had just received would stay on his record. One, it hurts White Hawks' chances of finding a new insurance carrier, and two, it might cost Singh his job.
As recently as Tuesday after the crash, if a broker pulled up White Hawk's SAFER profile, they'd see them listed as active, pending cancellation. Many untrained brokers would then "go ahead and use" White Hawk.
Should insurance carriers play a role in prevention? What did Great West know, or what did Great West’s risk and loss control partners find out, that initiated the cancellation even before the crash happened? Great West is a very responsible, professional insurance carrier, so I expect that in risk control assessments, they determined the risk was too high to continue to insure White Hawk.
The Qualification Process Fail
How did White Hawk Carriers hire a driver with dual CDLs from different states? This question strikes at the heart of our entire motor carrier qualification system. Federal regulations require carriers to verify that drivers hold valid licenses and meet all qualification requirements.
Yet Singh's dual licensing situation, impossible under federal law, went undetected during White Hawk's hiring process. This suggests either:
White Hawk never properly verified Singh's licensing status
The verification systems failed to detect the dual licenses
White Hawk knew and hired him anyway
Any of these scenarios represents a failure of the driver qualification process that cost three lives.
A Multi-Modal Chameleon Network
Singh's path from 2018 border crossing to 2025 vehicular homicide charges reveals failures at every level, but also exposes how chameleon carrier networks have evolved beyond simple trucking operations. The White Hawk network demonstrates the sophistication of modern regulatory evasion:
White Hawk Carriers Inc. (USDOT 2866642) with a history of safety violations
Brokerage Authority: White Hawk Carriers Inc. (USDOT 3710077) operating from Nevada but sharing California mailing addresses
Mail Forwarding Services: Using UPS Store mailboxes instead of legitimate business addresses.
Multi-State Corporate Registration: Nevada incorporation, California operations
Equipment Sharing: Trailers moving between multiple DOT numbers within the network.
Contact Integration: Shared emails, phone numbers, and addresses across entities
Multiple Similar-Named Operations: At least six different trucking companies operated by individuals named "Harpreet Singh" or "Harjinder Singh" across California's Central Valley
The Mail Forwarding Red Flag: The fact that both the trucking company and brokerage use a UPS Store mailbox (2908 E Whitmore Ave Ste H 293, Ceres, CA) as their official mailing address should have been an immediate red flag to federal regulators. This is classic chameleon carrier behavior, utilizing mail forwarding services to conceal actual business locations and complicate enforcement. The private sector guys like Dale Prax, and his Freight Validate service would have caught this.
This isn't a single point of failure. This is a comprehensive system collapse enabled by a regulatory framework that can't keep pace with increasingly sophisticated evasion tactics spanning multiple states, various types of transportation authority, and multiple individuals with suspiciously similar names.
The Human Cost of Reg Indifference
While regulators shuffle paperwork and point fingers, three families mourn. The victims were identified as 30-year-old Herby Dufresne of Florida City, 37-year-old Faniola Joseph of Pompano Beach, and 54-year-old Rodrique Dor of Miami.
Singh faces three counts of vehicular homicide and has been denied bond on all charges. He is being held in the St. Lucie County Jail with an ICE detainer for eventual deportation.
So What Do We Do Now?
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized California for issuing Singh a license. While they carry some blame, Washington is in on this too, but where is the carrier and carrier ownership? Probably operating their brokerage in Nevada as if nothing ever happened. I say that because carriers have brought me in after these events, and 99% of the time, the behavior continues. In the Ashley Chapman fatality crash in Gloucester, VA, Lucky Dog was the carrier; their violations and telematics events didn’t go down, they doubled in the thirty days after the crash. That driver went to prison for three years while the carrier continued to operate untouched despite their management and ownership contributing to the crash. They too, faced insurance cancellation due to historical behavior. As long as we isolate accountability to just the driver and the carrier's insurance company, fleet owners who are shown to have facilitated these crashes will continue to operate this way.
"I think what they're at least able to do, though, is ensure that the drivers coming through can read and understand English," DeSantis said. With that said, FMCSA data indicate that Florida has one of the lowest levels of ELP enforcement by violation count in the country, with only 75 violations, according to July ELP data provided by FMCSA and Trucksafe Consulting. MN has 18, CA has 632, Washington has 419, and Texas has 5,379 violations.
(Data Breakdown and Analysis available from Trucksafe Consulting. You can get this monthly here.)
Since the accident, DeSantis has directed truck inspection sites in Florida to operate as immigration checkpoints and says the state will not recognize licenses issued to undocumented immigrants.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has launched investigations into Singh, White Hawk Carriers, and the states that issued illegal CDLs, threatening to withhold federal funding from non-compliant states. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has called for the immediate suspension of states' authority to issue non-domiciled CDLs. That's a start, but it doesn't address the chameleon carrier problem or the broken verification systems that enabled this tragedy.
The question isn't whether we can prevent the next tragedy like this one. The question is whether we have the will to fix a system that everyone knows is broken but no one seems able or willing to repair. Three families in South Florida can tell you the cost of continued inaction.