Trucking company in fatal Turnpike crash: unsafe trucks, unlicensed drivers, records show
The truck involved in last week’s Florida Turnpike crash that killed three South Floridians belonged to a company with 25 truck safety violations in the last 24 inspections and two drivers caught driving on suspended licenses in 2024.
And, as of Tuesday morning, White Hawk Carriers, based in Ceres, California, appears to have lost its ability to do business outside of California.
“Insurance cancelled - NOT AUTHORIZED to operate as a MOTOR PROPERTY COMMON CARRIER,” reads White Hawk’s U.S. DOT licensing and insurance entry.
“Not authorized” means White Hawk’s out of the interstate property trucking business. But, that Tuesday morning change wasn’t reflected in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safety And Fitness Electronic Records (SAFER) snapshot of White Hawk, which said it remained “authorized for property.”
As of last Friday’s website update, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles says White Hawk Carriers, license No. 0484640, is still authorized for property moves within the state of California.
White Hawk CEO Navneet Kaur hasn’t returned a phone message from the Miami Herald. The company took down its Facebook page Monday. Google now lists White Hawk as “permanently closed.”
READ MORE: Truck driver in deadly Florida turnpike crash booked in California jail
What is White Hawk Carriers?
Much of the national conversation over the Aug. 12 St. Lucie County crash has focused on how driver Harjinder Singh acquired a commercial driver’s license in California despite being an undocumented immigrant. California law stipulates that semi-truck drivers must provide a document that proves they are in the U.S. legally, among other requirements, according to the California Commercial Driver’s Handbook.
Florida Highway Patrol says Singh entered the United States illegally via Mexico in 2018.
U.S. DOT Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday on social media that there would be a federal investigation of White Hawk and Singh and that Washington [state] also issued Singh a full-term commercial driver’s license. “Asylum seekers or illegal aliens are NOT allowed to receive this!” Duffy said they are also looking into how Singh got a commercial driver’s license in California.
READ MORE: How did truck driver in fatal Turnpike crash get license if not legal resident?
According to Florida Highway Patrol, a 37-year-old Pompano Beach woman and a 54-year-old Miami man died where the 2015 Chrysler Town & Country minivan crashed into improperly U-turning truck. The 30-year-old from Florida City, who was driving the Chrysler, died after being airlifted to a hospital.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Trump Administration spent Sunday and Monday arguing on social media who was responsible for Singh being in the country and having an employment authorization document.
But, trucking websites quickly put a spotlight on White Hawk Carriers, which California state records say Kaur, the CEO, registered with the state in March 2016 and runs out of a Ceres house. Before White Hawk, Kaur ran White Star Trucking out of a Modesto house from March 2013 until letting its registration end in December 2016.
Inspection statistics for White Hawk drivers
Trucking safety records are compiled on two federal government websites: the SAFER company snapshot and the Federal Motor Carriers’ Safety Administration Safety Measurement System (SMS). The U.S. DOT also has a site detailing a company’s licensing and insurance status.
READ MORE: Unlicensed moves, forgery, extortion and fraud by a Florida mover, state says
Both the SAFER snapshot and SMS list inspection numbers for trucking companies. The SMS breakdowns, overall, are more detailed.
SMS says on Jan. 26, 2024, a White Hawk driver was busted in Texas “driving a commercial motor vehicle while the commercial driver’s license is suspended for a non-safety-related reason...”
A month later, on Feb. 28, 2024, a White Hawk driver got caught “driving a commercial motor vehicle while disqualified. Suspended for safety-related or unknown reason...”
SMS also shows nine incidents of unsafe driving by White Hawk drivers in the last two years, not counting the Aug. 12 crash, which hasn’t been included yet: inattentive or distracted driving; not using hazard warning lights; lane-restriction violation; improper lane change; failure to stay in the lane; not moving over for emergency vehicles; speeding in a work zone; and twice caught speeding 6 to 10 mph over the limit.
SAFER says out of 67 roadside driver inspections of White Hawk Carriers’ trucks, there were violations nine times that caused the driver to be taken out of service. That’s 13.4% of the inspections; the national average, as of July 25, was 6.67%.
Broken brakes and other White Hawk truck problems
SMS shows 24 inspections of White Hawk Carriers’ trucks since June 23, 2024, 12 of which had zero violations. But, 25 violations were packed into the other dozen inspections, some of which took trucks out of service. Among the violations:
- At least 20% of the brakes on the truck were defective on trucks inspected on June 23, 2024, June 27, 2024, April 16, 2025.
- Leaking or underinflated tires on trucks inspected on Oct. 30, 2024, and Sept. 2, 2024.
- “Cargo — vehicle components or dunnage not secured,” sidelined trucks on June 3, 2025 and April 20, 2025.
This story was originally published August 19, 2025 at 12:47 PM with the headline "Trucking company in fatal Turnpike crash: unsafe trucks, unlicensed drivers, records show."
