TRUCKERS AGAINST TRAFFICKING
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Modern-day slavery, or human trafficking exists whenever people are bought and sold for forced labor or commercial sex. Around the world, it is estimated that there are over 40 million slaves today. Human trafficking has been reported in all 50 states, and the number of victims in the United States is estimated in the hundreds of thousands. While illegal, human trafficking is a booming business. Traffickers recruit out of our schools, online, in shopping malls, as well as the streets and other locations. A large percentage of the people trafficked are women and children. Many of them are used in the sex industry. They are the prostituted people on the street and in private homes, and in legitimate businesses such as restaurants, truck stops and motels. They need to be identified and recovered.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Coalition Builds
The coalition build (CB) program has continued to be a catalyst in expanding TAT’s mission and impact across the nation. Pathways for strategic engagement at the state and local levels are created as an influential group of individuals come together to leverage their networks in the fight against human trafficking. The coalition builds create a platform to showcase TAT’s work, resources and partnerships more than any other program or event. Not only does our program build the structure for networking on the front lines between professional drivers, bus terminal workers, truck stop managers and their local law enforcement, it also results in practical changes when calls are made on behalf of victims. The CB program’s influence lies in the ability to turn decision makers at trucking companies, bus companies, energy companies, transportation associations, government agencies and law enforcement agencies into force multipliers as they implement TAT’s training resources within their diverse spheres of influence.
Industry Training Program
TAT’s core program, the Industry Training Program, drives the greatest impact by training hundreds of thousands of industry members on the realities of sex trafficking and how the trucking industry can combat it. Through nationwide presentations, using a robust social media program and via our industry-specific materials, TAT partners with trucking schools, carriers, truck stops, as well as shippers, manufacturers and state and national trucking associations, in order to spread the word
Freedom Drivers Project
The Freedom Drivers Project (FDP) is a first-of-its-kind mobile exhibit that is a premiere tool in educating members of the trucking industry and general public about the realities of domestic sex trafficking and how the trucking industry is combating it. From its outside wrap, to the climate controlled interior, which includes a theatre station, actual artifacts from trafficking cases that connect people to the back stories of so many who end up enslaved in our country, to portraits of the real Truckers Against Trafficking and how each is working to end human trafficking, this trailer provides many with their first glimpse into human trafficking, as well as simple action steps anyone can take immediately walking out of it.
Shipping Partners Program
Moving product from Point A to Point B is critical to helping the country thrive. Without American roadways, your product doesn’t get from your warehouse dock into the hands of American businesses and your customers. Ground transportation continues to be an efficient and reliable way to transport your product and merchandise. Yet, realities exist along those roads that demand our attention. Victims of all ages and genders are being forced into prostitution … exploited at locations transportation professionals frequent, including rest areas, hotels/motels, truck stops and even places where drivers are delivering their loads.
Innocent victims are regularly moved from point-to-point, just like your product and merchandise. These victims are relying on those around them, in these critical locations, witnessing these crimes taking place and knowing how to act. With one simple decision, you can help put an end to domestic sex trafficking along North American roadways. The opportunity exists to be a changemaker in the lives of those being exploited across our nation.
Busing on the Lookout
The bus industry has a key role to play in combating human trafficking, particularly as frontline employees may be coming into contact with victims of human trafficking in the course of their everyday jobs. Busing on the Lookout (BOTL) targets school transportation, public transit and private bus companies with specialized training to help their employees understand how to recognize and report this heinous crime.
Empower Freedom
Truckers Against Trafficking is committed to utilizing industry overlaps to ensure that every truck driver in America is TAT trained. The energy industry intersects with trucking through midstream transportation, heavy machinery all the way down to fuel logistics. Once we began exploring these overlaps, we found that an industry-specific approach could benefit the energy industry as well. With that in mind, we have connected our different program options with energy companies.
Law Enforcement Training
Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) provides a 4-hour, in-depth law enforcement training on human trafficking and societal attitudes that contribute to a misunderstanding of prostitution, along with the victim-centered approach and case studies of inspection and interdiction stops that turned into human trafficking. Central to TAT’s training is a powerful survivor’s testimony with her perspectives
on interactions with law enforcement she encountered.
Canada
Canadian drivers work diligently to deliver products and people safely to their intended destinations across North America. And in the course of their everyday jobs, these drivers have the opportunity to be a hero to some of the most vulnerable people – victims of human trafficking. While the realities of human trafficking in Canada are heinous, professional drivers are uniquely positioned to disrupt this crime, simply by taking a second look and making a phone call. Partner with TAT Canada today and activate your workforce to aid in victim identification and recovery.
State Based Initiatives
In order to recognize, discover and disrupt human trafficking networks by closing down loopholes they may be exploiting, TAT works to create public-private partnerships. We do this through a variety of programs to capitalize on the intersections specifically targeted entities have with each other in the course of their work and, often times, with traffickers and victims as well. These entities include law enforcement, private industry, government agencies and individuals at the local, state and national levels as well as public and private organizations. The program includes Coalition Builds, Law Enforcement, Iowa MVE, Taskforce Collaboration and Canada.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of people trained
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Ethnic and racial groups, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people, Victims and oppressed people
Related Program
Industry Training Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This is the total number of drivers trained, per our records, cumulative over the years.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
1) Saturate trucking and related industries with TAT materials.
2) Partner with law enforcement and government agencies to facilitate the investigation of human trafficking.
3) Marshal the resources of our partners to combat this crime.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Truckers Against Trafficking recognizes that members of the trucking, bus and energy industries are invaluable in the fight against this heinous crime. As the eyes and ears of our nation’s highways, they are in a unique position to make a difference and close loopholes to traffickers who seek to exploit our transportation system for their personal gain. TAT has been created to inform members of the trucking, bus and energy industries, and other travelers of the basic issues involved in human trafficking and ways they can help.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Beyond hard-working and driven staff, our partners are an integral part of what we do. Within trucking, we partner with the major national associations like the American Trucking Association, the Truckload Carriers Association, the Owner Operator Independent Driver Association, the National Association of Truckstop Owner/Operators, and the National Association of Small Trucking Companies. We also partner with various trucking companies as well, like Travel Centers of America, Pilot/Flying J, Prime, Schneider and Ryder (to name a few)
Outside of trucking we partner with a host of non-profits, chief among them our partners out of Boulder, CO, iEmpathize. Polaris Project, the folks who run the NHTRC are another important partner, as well as a host of NGO's, who operate within their state led task forces.
Government agencies have also become great partners in helping us reach our target population, among them are the FBI, the USDOT, particularly their work with the Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking, the OMVE, the Iowa DOT, DHS and the Attorney General's office.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
TAT has made tremendous progress in uniting the trucking, bus and energy industries behind the work of combating domestic sex trafficking. We are seeing hundreds of companies implement TAT training, we are seeing shippers change their contractual language to ensure the companies they work with are TAT trained. We are seeing state trucking associations partner with us at unprecedented levels, and we are garnering financial support from the industry as well. Moreover, we are seeing a cultural change occur in the hearts and minds of industry members as we reframe the problem and help more and more people understand that prostitution is the oldest oppression ... not profession, and that if they ever see a minor selling commercial sex, or see any evidence of pimp control that they are looking at human trafficking. We also help to tell the backstory of the person being sold ... how did they get out there? Are they being forced? Do they need help? These are questions that had not routinely been asked. TAT has also moved the needle on activating law enforcement and government agencies around combating this crime. State patrol is one of the most underutilized resources in combating domestic sex trafficking, and with their overlap of the trucking industry, our IA MVE model, coalition builds and state based initiatives, we have provided them with multiple entry points to work with the trucking industry in closing loopholes to traffickers. In fact, the state of OH (via their state patrol and Department of Public Safety) was the first to enforce a rule mandating TAT training for all entry-level CDL holders. TAT would like to see this adopted in every state, or even at the federal level via the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration. We are also working with our friends at the DMV to figure out how to assist survivors in getting their drivers licenses once out of the life, as this is a major challenge due to their identification documents often being destroyed by their traffickers. TAT also wants to see its model replicated internationally and across other modes of transportation. Plus, we still have quite a ways to go in saturating the entire United States trucking industry. Our staff is small, but mighty. Our resources are steady, but limited. However, our partnerships are amazing, and our vision excellent. We will continue to progress by creating pathways for engagement for all worthwhile partners and maximizing the entry points that due exist in helping us reach our goals.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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TRUCKERS AGAINST TRAFFICKING
Board of directorsas of 06/07/2023
Mr. Scott Perry
Suddath Global Logistics
Scott Perry
Suddath Global Logistics
Elisabeth Barna
American Trucking Associations
Dave Lorenzen
Iowa Department of Transportation
Linda Burtwistle
Coach USA
Barry Richards
Travel Centers of America
Karen Rasmussen
Independent Carrier Safety Association
Don Blake
Inland Kenworth
Stephanie Wicky
Ryder
Antoine Sadler
Walmart
Lou Rivieccio
UPS Corporate Transportation
Tommie Reese
Alabama Attorney General’s Office
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
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Gender identity
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Transgender Identity
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