Truck Drivers Assist with Human Trafficking Identification Efforts
The month of January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
Every year, millions of men, women, and children fall victim to human trafficking, one of the fastest-growing global criminal enterprise that is estimated to be a $150 billion industry. Today, there are an estimated 40 million people across the world entrapped in this horrific web of modern-day slavery.
The trucking industry is uniquely positioned to help combat this epidemic by operating as America’s eyes and ears on the road.
Truckers Against Trafficking, or TAT, seeks to “raise up a mobile army of transportation professionals in the fight against human trafficking” through training on the warning signs of this crime and how to aid law enforcement.
This month, Trucking Moves America Forward (TMAF) spoke with four professional truck drivers who are ambassadors for TAT. Learn more about their amazing stories and participation in the program.
Gary Smith
Gary Smith is an over-the-road truck driver from Ohio for Garner Trucking who delivers general commodities throughout America’s upper mid-west region. He has been driving for over 13 years now. In 2017 he was selected to be an America’s Road Team (ATA) Captain and an Ambassador for Trucker’s Against Trafficking (TAT).
During an interview with TMAF, Gary shared a personal story; one which continues to motivate him to educate as many people as he can about the reality of human trafficking — from fellow truck drivers to the motoring public.
When Gary was a new truck driver, while parked at a truck rest stop, he was awoken from his sleep in the middle of the night by the sound of someone pounding on his door. Gary explained, “I expected to see another truck driver saying that I was blocking him in, but standing outside my door in a torrential downpour, was a young girl — as young as maybe 15 or 16 years old — and she asked me if ‘I wanted some company.’ I told her to ‘go away,’ and she just stared at me momentarily and then turned and walked away. When I had looked into her eyes, they were lifeless. It was like looking into a doll’s eyes. Because of ignorance and a lack of awareness about human trafficking, I never gave that young girl a chance to be rescued. It’s been 13 years since that day and I don’t know if she’s still on this earth, because once they are immersed in this culture, the average lifespan of these girls is ten years. I wish I could turn back the hands of time, but what I can do now is educate others. That is why I serve as an Ambassador for TAT.”
Gary, who has been TAT certified twice by choice, has been dedicated to helping educate others about the horrors of human trafficking since he was first certified in 2014. “I try to talk to everyone I can,” Gary stated. The more people that understand human trafficking and realize that it is real and understand that it could be one of your children or grandchildren snatched off the street and sold into slavery, increases the number of people who can help. If I educate one person and they tell another, and those individuals talk to others, and so on, it multiplies and there are more eyes and ears out there helping us,” Gary explained.
In addition to speaking with others, he also works to educate the public through presentations. He recently spoke at a safety conference hosted by the State of Ohio where he shared the podium with a Human Trafficking Survivor.
Speaking about meeting and working with Survivors, Gary said, “When they tell you their stories about what their lives were like, you can’t even fathom that people would treat another person that way. When I hear these stories about how people treat other people, a righteous indignation rises up inside of you and you realize this has to stop. You are called to action.”
When educating people about what they can do to help, Gary said, “It’s about raising your level of situational awareness. Human trafficking is real: it’s happening in our backyard, and we need to be more aware of it. I tell people: keep your eyes open. If you see something, say something. Make the call. Save a life.”
Speaking about how truck drivers are uniquely positioned to help combat human trafficking, Gary said, “There are 3.36 million professional truck drivers on America’s roads. That’s a lot of eyes and ears that can catch something that law enforcement can’t. We train drivers to look out for the warning signs of human trafficking so they can be aware and not ignore it. We also work to educate busing companies, transit authorities, and shoremen that work the coast.”
“I still see that young girl’s face outside my truck. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the opportunity to save a victim, but as long as I can educate as many people as possible, I know that I can do my part and help make a difference,” Gary concluded.
Rhonda Hartman
Rhonda Hartman is an LTL driver for Old Dominion Freight Line who resides in Iowa. She began her career in trucking as an owner-operator and has been a professional truck driver for over 38 years now. She has accumulated over 2.8 million accident-free miles.
The first time that Rhonda believed she witnessed human trafficking, she didn’t know what to do. Rhonda said, “I was driving late at night when a van came flying down the highway next to my truck. Normally, I don’t look down at vehicles, but something inside me told me to look down into this van. What I saw had my stomach in knots. Through one small window on the side of the van, I saw several small children in car seats that were bolted to the floor. The children were all crying. The woman driving the van was alone in the front and there were no other adults with her. I felt instantly that these children had all been abducted. I felt this had to have been a transport.”
This was before cell phones existed so there wasn’t an option to just pick up the phone and call 911, she explained. Unfortunately, the van got away before Rhonda was able to get in touch with someone by radio to call 911. To this day, she does not know if the children were ever rescued.
This event had such an impact on Rhonda that it moved her to learn more about human trafficking and how to report it, which led her to become an ambassador for TAT. She has made it her mission to not only raise awareness of the horrors of human trafficking in the U.S. but to also educate people on how they can help by speaking with others and doing presentations to groups.
“Hearing stories from the victims who have gotten out of human trafficking in TAT’s videos were so impactful to me, Rhonda said. “As a mom and grandmother, I am not willing to just stand by. I had to become more involved in anti-trafficking efforts.”
Rhonda also shared another personal story. Her granddaughter, Elizabeth, worked as a counselor for a privately run youth shelter that helps rescue and rehabilitate young boys and girls who are human trafficking victims. One incident that Elizabeth told Rhonda about from her work at the shelter was when they had rescued a 14-year-old girl from the streets. They put her in a room with two other young girls who were 11 and 12 who were homeless when they found them in hopes that the girls could bond. One evening, an alarm sounded — alerting the staff that one of the doors had been opened. Elizabeth ran to the door to see why the alarm was going off and what she saw sent chills down her spine. The 14-year-old girl that the facility had rescued had been used as a plant to go into the shelter and recruit other girls. There was a vehicle waiting for the girls off in the distance. Elizabeth cried out begging for the girls to turn around and come back inside and fortunately, was able to reach the three girls in time to stop them from getting into the vehicle. The driver quickly sped off. Rhonda explained how her granddaughter had to start seeing a counselor herself because she was so heavily affected by the victims’ stories and these day-to-day tragic occurrences.
Rhonda now works to educate other drivers by sharing these stories and experiences and helping make it real for people. She said, “I am absolutely open about why I’m involved. I make it personal: this could be your child, grandchild or sibling.” She also explains to people that it is better to call somebody for help and be wrong than to do nothing at all and be right about suspicious activity. “It’s better to call and be safe than sorry,” she says.
“As truck drivers, we are the eyes and ears on the road,” Rhonda said. “There are over 3 million drivers on America’s roads: we’re all over the nation. We can see things that the public and even law enforcement cannot.” Rhonda also discussed the advantage that truck drivers have, saying, “Truck drivers are often overlooked because people are so used to seeing trucks on the road, but since we’re always paying attention and alert, we are able to see everything around us.”
Rhonda ended the interview by saying, “If everyone would pay attention, we could all make a huge difference in someone’s life. I will continue to work to raise awareness and educate as many people as I can about the reality of this crisis in our country.”
Bill Krouse
Bill, who resides in Minnesota, has been a professional truck driver for 38 years. He has been driving for YRC Freight/Yellow Corporation for the past 35 years as an LTL carrier hauling non-refrigerated goods — everything from canned goods to diapers to medicine. He has accrued over 3 million accident-free miles throughout his career.
A third-generation truck driver, Bill followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, who also was an LTL carrier. He told TMAF that everything he learned about being a truck driver, he learned from his father.
When Bill was first approached by TAT, he wasn’t too aware about the human trafficking crisis. He said, “I didn’t know a lot about human trafficking. I didn’t know there was this big of a problem until I learned more about it. But once I found out about it, I had to act. I watched one of TAT’s videos and I said to myself, this is something I feel in my heart that I can talk to people about and make a difference.” That led Bill to become TAT certified last year.
Bill told TMAF, “Now, I know what to look for. I’m much more aware of my surroundings than I was before and I’m always watching to see if anything is out of the ordinary. I tell people — don’t be afraid to call. If you see something, call the national hotline. I’d rather have you call and be wrong then not call and be right. If you don’t call, you can’t help anybody. I try to get that planted in their heads.”
Since truck drivers travel across the country, Bill explained how drivers are uniquely positioned to help aid law enforcement in anti-human trafficking efforts. “We’re all over the country,” Bill said. “That’s over 3 million drivers who can be scanning streets across the country. If you factor in all of the other transportation drivers, like bus drivers, taxi drivers, and others, that’s a lot of people who can help call something in.”
Bill tells people to keep an eye out in specific areas, which are considered high traffic areas for human trafficking, such as rest areas, truck rest stops, restaurants, and hotels.
Tim Taylor
Tim has been a professional truck driver for over 30 years and has been driving with FedEx Freight for 27 years hauling general commodities as an LTL driver. He lives in Georgia.
While he was at the Georgia Truck Driving Championships in the early 2000s, he was approached by a TAT representative who was educating drivers about what the organization. Tim went through the process to become certified and learned what the common signs of human trafficking so that he would know what to look for while on the road.
“TAT opened my eyes to the human trafficking crisis,” Tim said. “I learned the signs to watch and listen for that someone that may be in a human trafficking situation may be presenting.”
After learning more about human trafficking and the warning signs, Tim believes he came across a victim earlier in his career before he was TAT certified. Sharing his personal story, Tim told TMAF, that one night, he pulled into a gas station with his colleagues to park for the evening while on a delivery to Orlando, Florida. They were followed into the parking lot and a car pulled up next to their truck. Tim said, “A young teenage girl came out of the car dressed provocatively. She started towards us and offered commercial sex that night.” The age of the young girl and the fact that this young girl was with an older lady that looked like a grandmother concerned Tim. He said, “I knew it my heart and my gut that something was wrong. We told her we weren’t interested and the left. Knowing now what I know, I wish I would have known back then. I believe that older woman was in control of that girl. If that was to happen to me now, I would know what to do.”
Since becoming TAT certified, Tim works to educate others about the warning signs of human trafficking and what to do if they encounter a human trafficking situation. He has participated in speaking engagements as a TAT ambassador, including a mayors conference in Florida, which he said was a great and valuable experience since many of the mayors were not aware that there are organizations like TAT that offer training to the public.
“I wish we could get every truck driver that has a CDL TAT trained,” Tim said. “It’s so easy. It’s as easy as sitting at your computer or downloading an app.” Tim continued, “Whenever truck drivers get ready to haul our loads every day, we do a pre-trip on our tractors and trailers. We know what to look for; we’ve been trained on what to look for. It’s the same with human trafficking; you’ve got to be trained.”
Speaking about the importance of raising awareness of human trafficking and the warning signs to look for and report, Tim said, “If a person is in a trafficking situation and nothing’s done, they’re going to remain in that trafficking situation. That’s a lifetime of trafficking. If one person can make a difference, one person is saved from modern day slavery.”
