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proving to be very effective. Kimmel’s
may be the best-known story of a truck
driver helping identify a victim of
human trafficking, but it’s far from the
only one.
lives saved
Already, more than 1,200 calls have
come to the national hotline from the
trucking industry — calls that helped
identify close to 400 possible cases of
human trafficking involving 692 vic-
tims, 234 of whom were minors.
“It’s working,” Lanier said. “We get
to hear really cool things.” In Ontario,
Calif., she said, a security guard at a
truck stop who’d been trained using
Truckers Against Trafficking’s materials
noticed suspicious activities going on at
a motel across the street. After he called
the hotline, law enforcement arrested
three traffickers and recovered several
victims — including a minor.
The warning signs of human traf-
ficking can be subtle, Lanier said. A
lot of times, people who appear to be
voluntarily working as prostitutes are
actually under the control of a pimp.
They may have been coerced or forced
into prostitution initially and kept there
by threats or beatings. If the person is
a minor, she said, that’s the only thing
that matters: Under federal law, anyone
under the age of 18 who is being sold
for sex is a victim of human trafficking.
The woman may be bruised, or talk
about needing to make a certain amount
of money before she can go home. She
may have a branding tattoo — something van or an RV parked where it wouldn’t Lanier said: Location, time, exactly
as blatant as a bar code, or phrases like normally be, with men coming in and what’s happening, any license plate
“cash only,” “Daddy’s girl,” “money out of it. numbers or vehicle descriptions.
maker,” even just the pimp’s name. “We got a tip from a trucker’s The trucking industry’s response
“They brand them like cattle a lot wife about a van at a truck stop in and willingness to get involved sets it
of times,” Lanier said. Brownsville, Tex.,” Lanier said. “Men apart, Lanier said, and both Congress
Drivers might also notice two were purchasing girls brought over the and the United Nations have taken
women — one older, one younger — going border.” notice of its efforts.
together from truck to truck or into a Lanier understands that drivers “Sex trafficking and labor traffick-
motel. The older one might be work- might be reluctant to get involved. ing happen in every industry around
ing for the trafficker — a victim herself, That’s why the hotline is completely the world,” she said. “It is the trucking
told she has to train the younger one. confidential. What they need to do in industry that has stood up and said
The trafficker might drop someone off return, though, is try to give as much ‘We’re not going to bury our heads.
at the cab of a truck and come back information about the situation as they We’re going to do something about it.’”
15 minutes later to pick her up. There can to the hotline so law enforcement For more information, visit www.
might be, as in Kevin Kimmel’s case, a will have enough details to take action, truckersagainsttrafficking.org. ATR

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