White Hawk Carriers Inc., the carrier that employed Department of Homeland Security-dubbed "illegal alien" driver Harjinder Singh at the time of his triple-fatal Florida turnpike crash, has been shut down after a national media firestorm.
As of Wednesday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's SAFER system snapshot for the company showed its operating authority as "Not Authorized."
The move follows Department of Transportation and DHS leadership bashing state licensing and enforcement practices, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' work with the feds, and longtime anti-freight fraud vigilante Dale Prax's direct communications with FMCSA.
White Hawk was already flagged as "pending cancellation," as it was 30 days before the end date on the company's insurance policy, according to Prax. Prax regularly researches companies with motor carrier and broker authority in his work at FreightValidate.
"Just coincidentally, Great West was about to cancel the policy on August 19," as that was the renewal date, he said. "Great West decided not to renew" White Hawk's policy after the deadly crash on August 12.
But sometimes things like insurance renewals get lost in the mail, and for that reason FMCSA waits three days after the renewal date before shutting off authority if it doesn't receive confirmation of renewal.
Prax sent an email to his contacts at FMCSA saying that's no way to run things. "In this particular case, we all know [White Hawk] is not a safe carrier," Prax said to FMCSA.
As recently as Tuesday, if a broker pulled up White Hawk's SAFER profile, they'd see them listed as active, pending cancellation. Prax, a former broker himself, said many untrained brokers would "go ahead and use" White Hawk at that point.
Four hours after Prax's correspondence with FMCSA, White Hawk was listed as unauthorized, though Prax isn't exactly sure why.
Also, Prax wasn't the only major voice calling for White Hawk's authority.
DeSantis says trucking companies can't employ non-English speakers
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, in an interview with Fox News, said that he'd asked federal authorities to take down White Hawk, using some non-trucking-specific terms.
"I said initially the company needs to be held accountable and we’ve been working with the federal government and they are pulling that company’s license because you cannot employ somebody who cannot read the road signs," DeSantis said on Fox.
Of course, the feds pulled White Hawk's authority, not "license," and President Donald Trump's recent executive order mandating English language proficiency for all CMV drivers in the country doesn't say anything about companies employing non-English speakers. Rather it simply directs FMCSA to tell inspectors to place non-English speakers out-of-service.
The Department of Labor says a "workplace English-only rule that is applied only at certain times may be adopted under very limited circumstances," and that employers must demonstrate a real need for English fluency to refuse roles to non-English speakers.
In any case, White Hawk is no longer authorized to haul in the U.S., but Prax said that's not enough.
White Hawk as an 'Imminent Hazard'?
During a cursory look into White Hawk's ownership, Prax said he found the company's Secretary of State filings with California listed someone named Navneet Huar as the company's owner. That name and signature also appeared on the Secretary of State filing for another trucking firm, White Star Trucking Inc., which has since gone out of business.
White Hawk did not disclose its affiliation with the other trucking company, according to Prax, and as such could be liable of perjury and eligible for a $10,000 fine, as FMCSA states in the paperwork during the authority application process.
But FMCSA has told Overdrive in past it doesn't actually issue fines for perjury or any other administrative fines, even as "chameleon carriers" obtain hundreds of MC numbers with phony addresses.
[Related: FMCSA's confusing excuse for not enforcing its own rules]
Instead of administrative fines or taking White Hawk down on an insurance lapse, Prax wanted FMCSA to get straight to the point -- take them down as an "imminent hazard."
"Congress gave FMCSA the authority to act immediately when lives are at risk," Prax wrote on an article on LinkedIn. "Under 49 U.S.C. § 521(b)(5)(A) and 49 CFR Part 386, Subpart G, FMCSA can declare a carrier, broker, or driver an Imminent Hazard and order them off the road instantly if their continued operation is likely to result in serious injury or death," he continued.
Under the Obama administration in 2011, FMCSA took down 14 motor carriers in two years under the Imminent Hazard clause, citing a public safety risk. Over the years, FMCSA has shut down a handful of other companies as Imminent Hazards as well.
After White Hawk, which had multiple HOS violations in the last year and a driver OOS rate double the national average, had a driver kill three with a reckless attempt at an illegal U-turn on the Florida turnpike, why not take them down as an "imminent hazard?" Prax asked. Why not take down Hope Trans, the company behind the fatal I-20 crash on June 28? Hope Trans still has operating authority, but also makes a fine "imminent hazard."
Would FMCSA stop Navneet Huar from getting motor carrier authority again? Why did it take down White Hawk's authority? Overdrive asked these questions of FMCSA and has not heard back.
Overdrive also reached out to White Hawk and Hope, but did not hear back.
