washington business
Driving Change Through Awareness
UPS is using the eyes and ears of the company ’ s nearly 8,000 freight truck drivers to identify and report human trafficking along the nation ’ s vast highway system .
Bobbi Cussins
Truck stops are fast becoming a magnet for human trafficking . With eyes and ears on roads , highways and byways around the country all hours of the day , UPS is utilizing its unique position to train its freight truck drivers to recognize the signs of human trafficking , contact the appropriate authorities and possibly save a life .
At A Glance
In 2016 , the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children estimated that one in six endangered runaways reported to them were likely sex trafficking victims .
In 2003 , Washington was the first state to pass a law criminalizing human trafficking and has the most stringent law in the country .
“ Help me ” was all that was scribbled on a young girl ’ s note pressed to the window of the moving car .
The UPS freight truck driver , unsure what to do , did nothing . He didn ’ t understand the child could be a victim of human trafficking . It ’ s a memory that haunts him even today , two years after the incident .
But , a new partnership between UPS and Truckers Against Trafficking ( TAT ) and the Department of Homeland Security ’ s Blue Campaign is giving the company ’ s 8,000 longhaul freight truck drivers across the nation the training and tools to spot the signs of human trafficking and information on how to notify the proper authorities .
That many eyes and ears on the nations millions of miles of highways and back roads makes UPS a valuable partner in the fight against human trafficking .
“ When we looked at our footprint on the road , we said ‘ We want a policy , we want to make sure people understand how we feel about this issue ,’” said Nicole Clifton , vice president , UPS Global Public Affairs . “ We want every driver to have the education so that if they see something , they say something .”
UPS partnered with Truckers Against Trafficking and the Department of Homeland Security ’ s Blue Campaign in 2016 to train the company ’ s roughly 8,000 long-haul freight truck drivers on how to spot human trafficking and report it to law enforcement .
UPS is currently taking steps to roll out the training to its entire driver network — nearly 80,000 local package truck drivers across the nation .
Human trafficking has been reported in all 50 states and truck stops are becoming one of the major magnet sites for the trade and sale of human victims .
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