Understanding Truckers Against Trafficking  

Purpose

1.    Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) began as an initiative – a project – started by Chapter 61 Ministries in March 2009 to educate, equip, empower and mobilize all aspects and members of the trucking industry to fight human trafficking as part of their regular jobs.

2.    Truckers Against Trafficking is also a name, an identity, a brand that we want all 8 million or more members of the trucking industry to associate with, support, identify as and act in accordance with, whether they’re on-the-road drivers, owners, owner-operators, association staff, travel plaza owners, managers, employees or are involved in any real capacity with the trucking industry.

3.    Anyone can join TAT and become a trucker against trafficking

4.    TAT’s goals include:
(a.)    Putting our wallet cards in the hands of every member of the trucking industry in America.
(b.)    Having our trucking-specific training DVD made part of orientation for all truck stop and travel plaza employees, all students of private and publicly funded truck driving schools, all truck drivers employed via major carriers or owner/operators.
(c.)    Having TAT posters posted in all truck stops, rest areas and truck carrier break rooms across the United States.
(d.)    Having members of the trucking industry educated and equipped to recognize human trafficking when they see it and to fight it by calling the national hotline – 1-888-373-7888 – to report what they see. (e.)    Having fleet owners, trucking companies, trucking and travel plaza associations and people from every area of the trucking industry make human trafficking a safety issue on their plate and work together as Truckers Against Trafficking. 

Philosophy

1.    Members of the trucking industry are the sentries, the patrollers, of our nation’s highways. They are the eyes and ears of our country’s road system and see, hear and are aware of things happening that the general public only knows or is aware of in part.

2.    Traffickers are always transporting victims throughout our nation and use our highways for their criminal activities and monetary gain. They are busy in the purview, the arena, the backyard, of the trucking industry. If they can be recognized – if their victims can be recognized as trafficking victims – members of the trucking industry can play a critical part in “cleaning up their own backyard” and shutting down a great deal of human trafficking activity by calling the national hotline, reporting that activity, and enabling law enforcement to then go to work arresting perpetrators and rescuing victims. This will result in favorable press for the trucking industry and reveal members of the industry as heroes and modern-day abolitionists who are a formidable force when working together. 

Critical Factors

1.    There needs to be a consistent message and theme across the industry if there’s to be a successful buy-in and implementation of the need to become involved in the fight against human trafficking by members of the trucking industry.
(a.)    TAT is growing as an identity within the industry – it needs to be kept undiluted, and we’d ask that coalitions or abolitionist groups – people outside of the trucking industry – work in conjunction with this identity and philosophy within the industry to promote one simple message and theme.
(b.)    TAT issues a simple message – Make the call, save lilves, with the national hotline number.
(c.)    TAT lifts up and empowers members of the trucking industry to be the potential heroes in this fight as they’re the ones with the opportunity; it’s their job arena; and they have the skills and now the tools to be most effective in their area.
(d.)    TAT maintains one national public voice and contact – the TAT website – so the image isn’t splintered and fragmented but is able to filter down to local contact in all states and locations.

2.    Trucking industry concerns need to always be addressed

a.    Travel plazas and truck stops are very sensitive to negative publicity and poor public image, and, in fact, have started calling themselves travel plazas to get away from the negative publicity in the past which was attributed to truck stops. Anyone representing TAT needs to be sensitive to their concerns.                                                 

 i.    Ask for permission to talk about TAT.                                                

ii.    Ask for permission to post TAT tools in trucker-specific areas, such as trucker-specific gas lanes, break areas, wash areas.                                              

iii.    Always present TAT from the standpoint of trying to empower them to fight this criminal activity.

b.    Trucking companies have many issues to deal with – human trafficking is just one, and not a major one for them.                                                 

i.    Need to work with safety directors at companies – human trafficking is a safety issue and falls under their area of responsibility.                                                

ii.    Need to make it as easy as possible for companies, individual truckers or travel plazas to get involved as possible by giving them one website, one consistent message, materials, reasons why this is important to them:

1.    Safety issue for drivers, trucks and loads.

2.    Economic issue.

3.    Moral issue where trucking industry can be heroic in control and patrol by taking the lead and, in effect, joining law enforcement in ridding our streets and highways of traffickers and seeing hundreds of thousands of victims rescued.

c.    Keep track of companies/people/travel plazas contacted                                                 

i.    Chapter 61 would appreciate help in keeping track of places/companies/travel plazas/people contacted and results of those contacts so we can keep a national database of progress toward our goal. 

Activities

1.    Promotion and publicity

a.    TAT has a website – www.truckersagainsttrafficking.com – through the Christian Truckers Network, which went up in March 2009, where members of the trucking industry can gain a comprehensive view of human trafficking, learn what they can do to fight it and pick up tools.

b.    TAT has had articles in Fleet Owner newsletter, The Trucker, Trucker Connection and many association newsletters as well as multiple interviews on numerous trucker-specific radio shows.

c.    TAT has made contact with the American Trucking Association, the national Association of Truck Stop Operators, the Truckload Carriers Association, many of the state trucking associations and the National Association of Publicly Funded Truck Driving Schools to ask for their help in publicizing this initiative and/or implementing and using it. We’ve received that support in numerous cases.

d.    Creation of materials                                         

i.    Wallet cards – these can be downloaded from the website or requested through Chapter 61 Ministries at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Cards give questions to ask, things to look for and tips for what information to include when calling the national hotline.                                        

ii.    Posters -- these can be downloaded from the website or requested through Chapter 61 Ministries at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .                                       

iii.    Brochure -- this can be requested through Chapter 61 Ministries at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . It gives an overview of TAT and its history and purpose.                                      

 iv.    Newsletters -- these can be downloaded from the website or requested through Chapter 61 Ministries at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . These keep interested people informed of TAT activities, progress and other pertinent information.                                       

v.    On-demand webinar – this Human Trafficking 101 training can be listened to or watched from the TAT homepage (www.truckersagainsttrafficking.com) or the homepage of Transport for Christ (www.transportforchrist.org), which did the recording, at any time or any where. It is trucking-specific. We suggest every person interested in participating in TAT watch this webinar.                                      

vi.    Training DVD – produced by iEmpathize, this DVD is a training tool for companies, driving schools, travel plazas, associations, and individuals on the need and the how to in the fight against human trafficking. We suggest every person interested in participating in TAT watch this DVD. It is available for download on the TAT website or by disc at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

e.    Trucking Show presence                                        

i.    We try to have booths at a number of state and local trucking shows, such as the Big Rig show in Tulsa, OK and the Memphis trucking show.                                        

ii.    We try to have booths at many of the national trucking shows, like the Mid-America Trucking Show and the Great American Trucking Show.

f.     Speaking engagements                                         

i.    We take speaking engagements throughout the country and in numerous venues, whether within the trucking industry or outside of it. We want to encourage participation in TAT, and are open to discuss ideas for moving it along, but we do ask that when using or distributing TAT materials or representing TAT by speaking or engaging members of the trucking industry that you be sensitive and adhere to the purpose, goals and philosophy of the program.