Highway 99 in California hums with big rigs.
Many of those rigs are driven by turbaned Sikh men whose dashboards carry portraits of Sikh Gurus and Punjabi pop stars.
Sikhs from India’s Punjab region now power a massive slice of America’s trucking industry, hauling everything from strawberries to steel.
But one deadly crash in Florida has shaken this tight-knit community, sparking fear, harassment and new language crackdowns.
Sikh Drivers Hit By New Rules
Roughly 150,000 Sikh drivers — many with limited English but decades of experience — keep U.S. goods moving.
Yet after 12 August, when Harjinder Singh’s illegal U-turn killed three people in Florida.
Federal officials froze some work visas and doubled down on English tests.
“Many drivers stayed home out of fear,” says Tejpaul Singh Bainiwal, who runs free English classes at a Stockton temple.
Inside these classes, truckers practice greetings, highway signs and even how to order coffee at a rest stop.
Community leaders warn backlash could worsen a looming driver shortage. “Sikh drivers are being harassed at truck stops,” says
