Trucker Path is helping combat human trafficking by raising awareness through its well used app.
Chris Oliver, chief marketing officer for Trucker Path, says some 1 million active users are on the app, providing more than 20 million inputs and suggestions a month, primarily on truck parking spot availability.
“Daily, a third of the industry is giving us some sort of information back,” he said of the app during a press conference at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition.
Beyond truck parking information, the app has grown to include other tools to provide drivers with greater comfort, efficiency and safety. Its partnership with TAT (formerly Truckers Against Trafficking) places the human trafficking hotline in a prominent location within the app so truckers who witness suspected human trafficking know who to call for help.
Esther Goetsch, executive director of TAT, said the exposure could help save lives.
She related the story of a human trafficking victim who escaped her captor and hid out in a truck stop. Thanks to TAT’s awareness campaign, a manager at the truck stop recognized the signs of distress and gave her a safe place to rest before getting her help, and ultimately reunited with her family.
“That’s the story of TAT and our work and action,” Goetsch said. “Partnerships like this allow more drivers and truck stop employees to be able to have the tools to recognize and report what they’re seeing.”
TAT has trained 1.9 million people in the trucking industry on human trafficking awareness and recognition since its inception.
