For the past decade, truckers have had a major impact in combating human trafficking through simple online training offered by Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) and the situational awareness it promotes. ICSA Executive Director Karen Rasmussen has served on the TAT Board of Directors since 2017 and ICSA has supported TAT every year since we were chartered. We do this in two ways: by encouraging our members and their drivers and other personnel to take online TAT training and through a modest annual charitable contribution from ICSA to TAT.
If you’re still wondering why you should take a few minutes to get TAT trained, we refer you back to this quote from TAT Executive Director Esther Goetsch in her December Landing Gear blog, “With one phone call, a trucker who saw some under-aged girls working a truck stop not only facilitated the recovery of those girls, but also that of seven other minors. Thirty-one offenders were arrested, and a 13-state prostitution ring was broken.”
If you are not already TAT-trained, we urge you to take the training to learn how you can help prevent trafficking. ICSA members who complete the online training through February 3 will receive a brand new ICSA hat with our updated logo and be entered into a drawing for a $500 gift card.
Every year, TAT (formerly called Truckers Against Trafficking) honors a member of the trucking, bus or energy industry, whose direct actions help save or improve the lives of those exploited or prevent human trafficking from taking place, with the Harriet Tubman Award
Bob Costello has indicated that the freight market has improved – but very slowly – since January. It must be said that ATA’s indices are dominated by contract freight as opposed to spot rates.
Now, however, with Republican control of both houses of Congress and the White House (and, some say, the Supreme Court) I am optimistic that trucking will get a fairer shake than it has during Biden’s term in office.