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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Truckers Against Trafficking Accomplishments

The grassroots organization Truckers Against Trafficking has amassed an impressive list of accomplishments in the seven years since it was founded. While you may have heard about TAT before, we wanted you to be aware of the impact that truck drivers and trucking companies have made in the war against human trafficking.

Human trafficking is similar to organized crime in the sense that once you enter that world, it’s hard to get out. It is a crime that involves the recruitment, transportation and transfer of humans through the use of force or coercion. As you can imagine, traffickers target the most vulnerable populations, including runaway and homeless children and undocumented immigrants.

Truckers criss-cross the country and see it all. Stopping at truck stops and routing through industrial areas expose them to many sex workers, many of whom are underage or forced into sex work to pay back a “boss” who financed their trip into the U.S.

TAT has partnered with hundreds of trucking companies, trucking schools, truck stops, all state trucking associations and every major national organization to train truckers in how to recognize and report suspected trafficking victims.

They worked to pass the law in Ohio that requires all new commercial drivers license holders to be TAT trained and are advocating that it be made law in several other states.

They have distributed over a million wallet cards to truckers instructing them on what to do if they suspect trafficking.

As a result calls to the national human trafficking hotline have skyrocketed and truckers have made over 1534 reports and identified 1,033 likely trafficking victims. Additionally, the trucking industry gained global recognition when TAT was included in the United Nation’s 100 Best Practices list to combat human trafficking.