It is supposed to be the busiest time of year for the Roadies trucking company, but dozens of its trucks sit idle — unlikely casualties of a surprise scrutiny of laborers from India.
The Bakersfield company has 200 big rigs but a dearth of drivers after authorities canceled thousands of commercial driver’s licenses in California, forcing more than 20 Roadies drivers out of the business and spooking others into quitting.
Chief Executive Avninder Singh says he has doubled pay, but still can’t recruit enough drivers. He says he is now losing more each month than he usually makes in a year.
“My trucks are sitting,” with no one to drive them, he said. “It has put my livelihood in danger.”
Outside of tech, medicine, and family businesses, truck driving is one of the largest sources of employment for the Indian diaspora in America. Indian truckers say they are being unfairly targeted after a horrific accident triggered extra scrutiny of migrant drivers and tighter regulations.
Some drivers — many of whom claim to have fled persecution in India and requested asylum in the U.S. — are sitting on expensive investments they cannot use. Joban Singh, 27, based in Bakersfield, spent $80,000 to buy a truck because even though truck driving is a tough life, it provides a steady income to support his family.
“We have invested everything in trucking, thinking it’ll be good for us,” he said. “Now if we have our licenses canceled, who will buy these trucks and trailers from us?”
Singh is a common surname in the Sikh community from India’s state of Punjab. None of the people mentioned in this story are related.
Punjabi Sikh truckers have emerged as the backbone of the American trucking industry. For decades, many have sought asylum in the U.S. and entered the transportation industry.
There are around 750,000 Punjabi Sikhs in the United States. Of those, about 150,000 work in the trucking industry, with the majority based on the West Coast.
The more devout Sikhs sport turbans and beards as symbols of their faith, which is neither Hindu nor Muslim. This can make them a target on the road, says Manpreet Kaur, the vice mayor of the city of Bakersfield.
“The Sikh community within trucking is really being squished in the middle of a battle between the state of California and the federal government,” said Kaur, whose father was a truck owner and operator.
Instances of racism and racial profiling of the community have risen, with Indian truckers reporting incidents of doors getting slammed in their faces and racial slurs being used at truck stops.
“Feeling a sense of not belonging in a place where you have worked, earned, contributed, [and where] your children have grown up,” is convincing drivers to leave the industry, she said. “All of a sudden, because of the decisions of one administration, the hate is presenting so strongly.”
The surge in negative attention started in August when three people were killed in an accident in Florida after an Indian driver with a license from California allegedly made an illegal U-turn.
The Trump administration blamed California for failing to enforce English proficiency and other driver requirements. In September, the Trump administration issued an emergency rule to try to shut down the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses to noncitizens
The Department of Transportation put pressure on California, revoking $40 million in federal funding for failing to enforce English proficiency tests and threatening to cut additional federal support.
Last month, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles announced plans to revoke 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses issued to immigrants. The licenses were canceled, the DMV said, because they were set to expire after the time the migrants were legally allowed to remain in the U.S.
Sukhdeep Singh, owner of Cali Brothers Truck Lines, which has 60 trucks and is based in Merced, said 10 of his Sikh drivers quit last month. They have valid licenses and work papers, but are afraid to go back on the road, worried that if they get stopped, they could get sent home.
“They don’t want to drive anymore,” he said.
About 25 of Roadies’ truck drivers received the cancellation notice. The company is now losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue each month as its clients go elsewhere.
Policy changes regarding noncitizen commercial licenses and English language proficiency enforcement could remove more than 400,000 commercial drivers from the market over the next three years, according to J.B. Hunt, one of the largest trucking companies.
Some say the driver shortage concerns are overblown and that there are enough U.S. citizens to meet the demand for drivers if they are given sufficient training and salaries.
“I do not buy the idea that there aren’t enough American truck drivers to meet demands in this country,” Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said in an October news conference. “I think you will see American truck drivers fill the space when we do what is right and take out these unlawful drivers.”
Advocacy groups such as the American Trucking Assn., which in the past has lobbied for looser licensing rules to address driver shortages, have backed the tighter restrictions.
Regulators need to enforce rules requiring truckers to be well-trained and qualified, said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello.
“Qualified means you can speak English, read road signs, understand safety rules and respect our laws,” he said. “Qualified means you earned your CDL the right way, not through a rubber-stamped process in a state that looks the other way.”
Companies that rely on Indian truckers may have to reconsider their business model.
The trucking industry is packed with small carriers operating 10 or fewer trucks. Most have been operating for years without incident, but many could now go out of business as they wait for the new normal to emerge.
“I am excited about the holiday season,” said Sukhdeep Singh of Cali Brothers Truck Lines. “But for the truckers, it’s not bringing any happiness.”
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