Media Resources

We have created this page to assist reporters in their coverage of stories on Truckers Against Trafficking.

Facts about Truckers Against Trafficking

Mission:  Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) is a 501(c) 3 that exists to educate, equip, empower and mobilize the trucking, bus and energy industries to combat human trafficking as part of their regular jobs.

Goals:

• Saturate trucking, bus and energy industries with TAT materials.
• Partner with law enforcement and government agencies to facilitate the investigation of human trafficking.
• Marshal the resources of our partners to combat this crime.

Making an Impact:

• Before TAT existed, only sporadic tips were being reported by the trucking industry, but now they have made over 2496 calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline (1-888-3737-888), generating 663 cases of sex trafficking involving 1230 victims.
• National trucking organizations like the American Trucking Associations, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, and the Truckload Carriers Association have entered into partnership with TAT, along with all 50 state trucking associations, and large companies such as Ryder, Werner, J.B. Hunt, TA/Petro, UPS, Bridgestone, and more.
• TAT is building coalitions between general managers of truck stops/travel plazas and the law enforcement that investigate trafficking cases on their lots, (FBI, AG’s office, DHS, local PD, US Attorney, etc.) in order to close loopholes to traffickers who exploit industry businesses for criminal gain, and to mobilize a local response. To date, we have held 52 builds in 36 states.
• TAT works with the Iowa MVE/DOT, who created a statewide model in order to utilize/mobilize weigh stations, rest stops, and state patrol in helping to get the word out, train law enforcement, and gain entry points into the trucking industry. Forty-eight states, and DC have now adopted the model in part or in whole. In addition, OH, KS, TX, WA, IL, CO, OK, MD, VA, AL, WI and AR have all adopted TAT training for their CDL holders, with additional states considering following suit.
• Freedom Drivers Project (FDP), a unique, 48-foot mobile exhibit and museum, showcases information/training on domestic sex trafficking, the artifacts and stories of survivors and the actions of the trucking industry to fight this crime. The FDP is in high demand across the nation by legislators, anti-trafficking groups and trucking leaders, with over 45,022 people already walking through its doors at over 176 events in 42 states.
• Busing on the Lookout (BOTL) has partnered with national, regional and state motorcoach, pupil transportation and public transit associations to get training materials out to bus operators throughout the country. Less than two years after its launch, >75,000 members of the bus industry are registered as TAT/BOTL trained. BOTL partners include 70 private bus companies, including Greyhound and Coach USA/Megabus, the two largest motorcoach operators in North America. Transit agencies in 25 states are BOTL training, with First Transit, the largest transit contractor in North America, training all of its drivers in 39 states. BOTL is working with pupil transportation partners in 29 states, with AL, IA, KS, IL, TN and MI incorporating BOTL into curriculum that will reach all school bus drivers statewide. In 2019, TAT honored a bus driver and safety director from Lakefront Lines in OH with the Harriet Tubman Award for their role in the recovery of a victim and arrest of a trafficker.
• TAT was awarded the Presidential Award for Extraordinary Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons in 2019, and the Suzanne McDaniel Memorial Award for Public Awareness as part of the Congressional Victims’ Rights Caucus Awards in 2015. It was also chosen as one of the 100 Best Practices to fight human trafficking by the United Nations (GIFT). It won the Norma Hotaling Award for Demand Reduction, the Award of Distinction from the OK Human Trafficking Task Force, the Linking Arms Award from In Our Backyard, the Motor Transport Association of CT honored TAT with their Good Buddy Award, the American Trucking Associations awarded TAT with their Mike Russell Trucking Image Award, and most recently, TAT was co-winner of the Truck Safety Partner Award from the Michigan Trucking Association, and the recipient of the 2018 Humanitarianism Appreciation Award from Dow Chemical, presented by Dow Road Logistics.

Pay Attention to Language 

There’s a methodology and a philosophy behind the language TAT uses. It’s specific and vetted with respected people within the movement, as well as a number of survivor advocates. We prefer this language be used whenever speaking/writing about those who have been trafficked:

Please do not use the words:

• Prostitute
• John
• Lot Lizard
• Rescue

Please do use:

• Prostituted person
• Survivor
• Overcomer
• Buyer
• Victim
• Recovered

Unless speaking about a specific victim/survivor, where you know the gender, age, etc., please keep the language gender neutral, ageless, and indicative that something was done to the victim … they aren’t what has been done to them. They aren’t prostitutes. They have been prostituted.

There is NO such thing as a “child prostitute” or a “teen prostitute.” Anyone under the age of 18 being sold for commercial sex is a victim of sex trafficking. (TVPA).

Additional Resources

Footage : You may use our three-minute training video trailer. However, the video may not be altered in any way. Credit must be given to Truckers Against Trafficking. Click here to view the video on DropBox and look for the Download option in the upper right corner.

TAT’s Programs: A link to the “What We Do” page, explaining our programs

2019 Annual Report

Past Newsletters

You may use any of the below infographics. If you need assistance in downloading them, email us at: tat.truckers@gmail.com