Each year, TAT (Truckers Against Trafficking) honors a member of the trucking, bus or energy industry whose direct actions have either helped save/improve the lives of those being exploited or prevented human trafficking from taking place.
The prestigious Harriet Tubman Award, presented by WEX, includes a $5,000 check, a trophy and national recognition. TAT is accepting nominations for this year’s Harriet Tubman Award through Aug. 15, 2026.
What is the Harriet Tubman Award?
TAT created the award in 2013 and named it to honor famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who was born into slavery in 1820. After escaping slavery herself in 1849, her courageous personal actions resulted in the transportation of 70 slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad. Her overall role in the freedom movement was instrumental in the freeing of thousands more.
Tubman was the first African American woman to be buried with full military honors, and the first to have the inaugural Liberty ship named after her — the SS Harriet Tubman — by the U.S. Maritime Commission.
The first Harriet Tubman Award was presented in 2014 to a travel plaza general manager in Washington. Since that time, winners have included truck drivers, other travel plaza employees and bus employees.
TAT provides training to motor carriers and other businesses.
In 2023, Joe Aguayo, a truck driver for WinCo Foods, received the Harriet Tubman Award. His company began rolling out TAT training in 2022.
Later that year, after seeing a woman with a shaved head, clad only in a towel, standing along a remote stretch of mountainous highway, Aguayo made a call, alerting police. His call resulted in the recovery of a trafficking victim. Law enforcement reported this to be the second Indigenous human trafficking victim found naked in this area. They believe the remote location, coupled with limited access to cell service, has made the area a dumping ground for perpetrators. The trooper told Aguayo that he likely saved the woman’s life.
TAT is seeking nominations for this year’s award.
“Please, Drivers, share your story if you’ve taken any action to help someone you think might be a trafficking victim or a potential trafficking victim — even if you’re not sure what you did is ‘award worthy,’” said Laura Cyrus, TAT’s senior director of industry training and outreach
“The stories of our Harriet Tubman Award winners are important, as are other cases we hear about and retell in our TAT in Action reports, like the story of ABF Freight Systems driver Bob Bramwell, who helped a young woman he saw on a stretch of rural road while he was in the car with his family, only 50 miles from his home,” Cyrus continued. “She, too, turned out to be a human trafficking victim. These stories serve to encourage others in the industry to stay vigilant around this effort.”
Do you know someone who deserves to win the Harriet Tubman Award? If so, check out the nomination process for the award now. TAT is accepting nominations through Aug. 15, 2026. The incident must have taken place in the U.S. or Canada, and nominees need to reside in one of those countries.
To read the stories of past winners, click here.
Lyn Leeburg is the communications director for TAT (formerly Truckers Against Trafficking).
Established in 2009, TAT started with a simple yet powerful belief: Every truck driver can be a crucial ally in the fight against human trafficking.
Since then, TAT has grown to encompass a greater portion of the transportation industry, forming deep alliances to maximize collective effort through programs that include innovative training, partnerships with law enforcement, and advocacy efforts. Using targeted systems change as a model, TAT has raised awareness about trafficking, who it targets and its signs, and equipped individuals to take action whenever their lives intersect with it and its victims.
TAT is driven by the belief that together, we can make a difference.
