TMAF Interviews TAT Advocate and Truck Driver Kellylynn McLaughin
Kellylynn McLaughlin has been a professional truck driver for ten years. She currently works for Clean Harbors as an over-the-road driver transporting hazardous waste and hazardous materials.
When asked what led her to pursue a career in the trucking industry, she chuckled as she said, “A high school marching band!” She explained that while volunteering as a high school band mom, she was asked to coordinate logistics for the band — a job that she very much enjoyed. “One time I hitched a ride with a fellow volunteer band dad, a truck driver, in the semi-truck that we rented to pull the gear. And I was said, ‘Wow, this is cool. I wish I could do this,’ and he said, ‘You can! Just go to truck driving school.” That is when she decided to pursue a career as a truck driver.
Through one of her first jobs as a truck driver, she learned about Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) and their work. During onboarding, the company she worked for included the TAT certification video as part of their training program. The video focuses on how to recognize human trafficking and the steps that truck drivers can take to report suspected human trafficking. Speaking of the video, Kellylynn said, “It was eye opening and heartfelt. It really pulled on my heartstrings.” Getting certified by TAT on the signs of human trafficking was not complicated, she explained. “It really was as easy as watching that training video and then becoming a little bit more knowledgeable and aware of my surroundings.”
Kellylynn soon became a volunteer and strong advocate for TAT. “As soon as I watched the training video, the wheels were in motion for me.” From volunteering to haul the TAT educational trailer, to events and conferences and donating to the cause, to encouraging her fellow truck drivers to post TAT’s window decals with the Human Trafficking Hotline numbers that allow you to call or text to request help as a victim or to report suspicious activities, Kellylynn has been a dedicated volunteer for TAT throughout the span of her career.
Kellylynn shared a personal story with TMAF about a time when she was able to do her part in combatting human trafficking. Around Christmas time a few years ago, she was driving when she heard a startling announcement on the CB truck radio. “I was driving through Kentucky, and I heard on the CB chatter that someone was offering girls and boys for sale. It was horrible to hear someone talking about that. It was the first time I’d ever heard anything like that so blatantly on a public space like that,” she recalled. Educated on how to report situations like these, she immediately called the human trafficking hotline and reported what she had heard and the location that was provided over the radio. Referencing her training, Kellylynn said, “I knew what to do. I made the call, and I hope I made a difference.”
That is why Kellylynn advocates for all trucking companies to offer the TAT training as part of their training curriculum. “Our trucks are everywhere. We spend our lives on the roads that traffickers use to move their product — that product being humans. We’re not only at truck rest stops — we’re at shopping centers, motels, and other places where human trafficking occurs. We all have the potential to see something and say something.”
But it’s not just truck drivers who have a critical role to play; any mobile worker can get educated and join the trucking industry in the fight against human trafficking, which is why Kellylynn encourages all mobile workers to get TAT certified. In fact, she challenges all companies who have traveling staff to include the TAT training video as one of their standard onboarding components.
TAT offers several types of training videos geared towards a variety of mobile workers. To learn more about TAT, visit: https://truckersagainsttrafficking.org/
