Professional drivers expected to participate in Truckers Against Trafficking training

“Had the call not been made that brought law enforcement out to the truck stop, doctors said she would have died within the next few days,” Truckers Against Trafficking, a non-profit organization that strives to train, equip and empower truck drivers across the country to recognize the signs of Human Trafficking, said. “That call was made by a professional truck driver, Kevin Kimmel, who recognized that something was off ─ something was wrong ─ and instead of turning a blind eye, he picked up the phone. She calls him her guardian angel, he calls himself a Trucker Against Trafficking.”

Thanks to legislation passed last year in Kansas, drivers who want to receive a CDL will now be expected to undergo Truckers Against Trafficking training.

According to TAT, at any given time there are more truck drivers on our nation’s roads than there are law enforcement officers. Because of their numbers, truck drivers can be the ears and eyes of our country’s highways. Truck drivers and truck stop employees could find themselves interacting with victims of human trafficking.

By participating in this training, the trucking industry could be a major component in fighting against the human trafficking industry because they would be better equipped to recognize the signs.

According to TAT, nearly 500,000 trucking industry members have undergone training.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline has received more than 1900 calls from truckers. More than 500 cases of potential human trafficking instances have been identified. Around 1008 potential victims were identified thanks to this training.

Because they can be trained to recognize the signs and report human trafficking, Truck drivers who undergo this course will continue to help save lives, according to TAT.

“If every driver, prior to hitting the road, had this life-saving information and training, imagine how many more calls will be made,” TAT said. “Imagine how many victims will be recovered out of this horrible reality, and how many perpetrators will be arrested.”

You can find more information about this organization at http://www.truckersagainsttrafficking.org/

January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, you can find out to recognize the signs by reading our blog on this topic: and you can check out https://humantraffickinghotline.org/