WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently launched its new human trafficking awareness campaign — “Your Roads, Their Freedom.”
The campaign seeks to give the nation’s 8.7 million commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers the information needed to identify and report suspected human trafficking.
“Human trafficking is a heinous crime, and it has no place in the transportation industry,” said FMCSA Administrator Robin Hutcheson. “But the hard-hitting reality is that our nation’s transportation systems are exploited by human traffickers every day, and FMCSA is working to help stop it.”
Globally, an estimated 28 million people are currently subjected to human trafficking, and the crime occurs in every state of the U.S. As part of DOT’s Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking (TLAHT) awareness campaign, the “Your Roads, Their Freedom” campaign will build on other federal efforts against human trafficking, including the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign and FMCSA’s grant programs, which awarded millions in funding to support state counter-trafficking efforts.
Through the “Your Roads, Their Freedom” campaign and other federal agency efforts, DOT aims “to empower America’s transportation workforce, which is millions strong, to be the eyes and ears of our collective effort,” as highlighted by U.S. Transportation Secretary Buttigieg in his remarks made to the President’s Interagency Task Force on Human Trafficking in February of this year.
Truckers made over 1,400 calls to the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline from December 2007 through June 2016, and 452 potential human trafficking cases were identified. Truckers reported this information in real time, enabling quicker responses by law enforcement.
While the “Your Roads, Their Freedom” campaign will be conducted nationwide, there will be a heightened emphasis across states with the highest reported number of human trafficking cases or a high volume of driver traffic. These states include California, Florida, Michigan, New York, and North Carolina among others.
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
. I feel bad for young girls and or boys being exploited. How do we determine who is doing it willingly and who is being pumped??
. I feel bad for young girls and or boys being exploited. How do we determine who is doing it willingly and who is being pimped?
I would call in anything that looks odd to you. Use your gut instinct. We really need to be more observant on the roads to this as truckers. However, with this new group of truckers (mostly foreigners, whom I think the government has issued them counterfeit CDL licenses) not many calls are going to be made. This group of truckers are too busy taking their 30 min in the fuel lanes and too busy tearing up property.
What does human trafficking has to do with racism? Most foreign truck drivers are too stupid to know what Human trafficking is and if someone that is human trafficking they would not be taking thirty minute breaks at the fuel island this topic is human trafficking not about racism.. And the US government cannot issue anyone CDL. The cdl come from the state that you reside in
IGNORANCE N DIVISION THAT EXIST IN TRUCKING INDUSTRY IS THE REASON WHY TRUCKING IS BEING MANIPLUTED N CONTROL BY CROOKED BROKERS