From the Times of India,
Sikh advocacy groups estimate there are approximately 150,000 to 200,000 Sikhs working in the trucking industry, with around 90% (135,000 to 180,000) being drivers. They constitute about 18% of the total truck drivers in the US and up to 40% are based in California.
This fact was buried in the 6th paragraph of a story about that Indian-national truck driver (Harjinder Singh, billed out of Stockton, CA) accused of causing three fatalities in a minivan with his truck on the Florida Turnpike earlier this month.
I mentioned the other day that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has suspended new work visas for foreign truck drivers.
I’ve also written about an Indian-national, California-licensed truck driver–who goes by the handle Happy Nonamegiven (or the other way around, accounts vary), late of San Diego, but originally from the Punjab–who was convicted of murdering a bar patron on New Year’s Eve last year in southwest Minnesota.
The Oregonian reports,
Washington authorities said Friday they continue to investigate the licensing history of a commercial truck driver involved in a fatal crash this month in Florida that has drawn national attention.
That’s the state of Washington investigating. In that Florida incident,
Federal authorities say the state of Washington issued Singh a commercial driver’s license on July 15, 2023.
On Friday, a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Licensing confirmed his license was valid through July 2024, when California issued him a commercial driver’s license.
The Oregonian reports,
On Friday, St. Lucie County (FL) Sheriff Richard Del Toro said Singh had been booked into the county jail and is being held without bail.
