Modern-day slavery, or human trafficking exists whenever people are bought and sold for forced labor or commercial sex. Around the world, it is estimated that there are over 40 million slaves today. Human trafficking has been reported in all 50 states, and the number of victims in the United States is estimated in the hundreds of thousands.

While illegal, human trafficking is a booming business. Traffickers recruit out of our schools, online, in shopping malls, as well as the streets and other locations. A large percentage of the people trafficked are women and children. Many of them are used in the sex industry. They are the prostituted people on the street and in private homes, and in legitimate businesses such as restaurants, truck stops, and motels. They need to be identified and recovered.

This is where Fort Smith Transit comes in! Truckers Against Trafficking recognizes that members of the trucking, bus, and energy industries are invaluable in the fight against this heinous crime. As the eyes and ears of our city, state, and nation’s highways, we are in a unique position to make a difference and close loopholes to traffickers who seek to exploit our transportation system for their personal gain. Visit the TAT site that has been created to inform members of the trucking, bus, and energy industries, and other travelers of the basic issues involved in human trafficking and a summary of ways you can help. We invite you to travel to this website Busing On The Lookout and learn how you can join us in this worthy cause and save lives.

Warning: Please do not approach traffickers. Allow law enforcement to deal with traffickers and recover victims. Approaching traffickers is not only dangerous for you and their victims but could lead to problems in the eventual prosecution of traffickers.

When calling law enforcement: In order to open an investigation on your tip, they need “actionable information.” This would include:

• Descriptions of cars or trucks (make, model, color, license plate, truck and/or USDOT number, etc.) and people (height, weight, hair color, eye color, age, etc.) Take a picture if you can.
• Specific times and dates (When did you see the event in question take place? What day was it?)
• Addresses and locations where suspicious activity took place.
• When you contact law enforcement, tell them you suspect human trafficking, not prostitution.

Note: In the US, there is now a lifetime ban on a CDL for any individual who uses their CMV to commit a felony involving a severe form of human trafficking. All 50 states & DC have a law criminalizing sex trafficking. Some states punish sex purchasers the same as sex traffickers, and most states have a buyer-applicable trafficking law that prohibits a mistake-of-age defense in prosecutions for buying a commercial sex act with any minor. 

Members of the bus industry are in a key position to spot potential human trafficking situations and save a life. If you suspect someone could be a victim of human trafficking:

1. Call 911: if you’re seeing a crime in progress. (See the back of this card for details to take note of when calling 911 or local law enforcement.)
2. Call The Hotline: to ascertain if you’re witnessing human trafficking, to access services, make a report, or share incidents that have been reported to law enforcement.
3. Provide Support: based on your comfort level:

• A. Tell management at the location what you’ve seen.
• B. Ask the victim if you can help and assess how.

Questions to Ask:

• Do you know the person who is picking you up?
• Do you feel safe with the person you’re traveling with?
• Do your parents/siblings/relatives know where you are? If not, why not?
• Are you free to come and go as you please?
• Are you or your family being threatened? What is the nature of the threats?

Trafficking Red Flags to Look For:

• Restricted or controlled communication; not allowed to speak for self; being watched or followed
• Is not in possession of own ticket or ID
• Disheveled appearance, unkept, alone, scared/crying
• Offers to exchange sex for a ride, meal, etc.
• Does not know the person who is picking them up
• Any acknowledgement that she/he has a pimp or is making a quota
• Signs of branding or tattooing (often of trafficker’s name)