The Trucker Path app now provides help reporting human trafficking.
Trucker Path is adding a human trafficking reporting feature to its driver app.
At the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference and Exhibition in Nashville, the company announced it’s expanding the reach and awareness of TAT (formerly Truckers Against Trafficking) by adding a TAT report feature to the Trucker Path app.
The feature will enable drivers to easily access the information they need to report a suspected human trafficking incident.
Established in 2009, TAT’s mission is to educate and mobilize members of key industries and agencies to combat human trafficking.
The reporting feature will identify the location of the driver and direct them to local reporting resources if available, and to a national hotline if not. Trucker Path and TAT are working together to add some educational information on how to identify human trafficking.
One Example of How TAT and Trucking Combat Human Trafficking
“The more truck drivers we can educate on what to look for and how to report an incident, the greater our chances of disrupting human trafficking,” said Esther Goetsch, TAT executive director.
She shared the story of Charles Bernsen, a truckstop manager recently honored with the 2024 TAT Harriet Tubman Award.
Bernsen, one of 18,000 TA employees who receive TAT’s human trafficking training annually, noticed a distressed young woman hanging around the store. She would disappear for periods of time into the restroom but then reappear in the lobby area.
Using what he had learned in the TAT training, Bernsen approached her and asked if she needed help. She burst into tears, telling him she had escaped a man who had been holding her captive in a hotel across the street from the TA where he’d been selling her for sex.
Bernsen offered her food, clothing, a blanket and information about TAT. He had her call the National Human Trafficking Hotline and speak to them, and then purchased a bus ticket for her to get home and provided money for expenses along the way.
Growing Trucker Path Partnerships With Industry Organizations
TAT joins ATA’s Women in Motion Council as part of the company’s mission to improve quality of life on the road for truckers and to support valuable industry associations.
Last year, the American Trucking Associations’ Women in Motion announced it had teamed up with Trucker Path to help female truck drivers identify safe places to stop and park.
The app helps women identify and locate facilities that have seven specific safety features:
- Lighted parking
- Lighted bathroom access
- Lighted lounge areas
- Lighted shower facilities with 24/7 access
- Lighted laundry facilities with 24/7 access
- Round-the-clock maintenance
- Onsite security
Facilities with all seven amenities are marked with the Women in Motion logo in the Trucker Path app.
