Truckers drafted in street-level fight against human trafficking

Trucker Kent Kimmel was parked at a Pilot truck stop in New Kent County, Va. when he spotted a young woman peeking out the window of a black-curtained RV. “The black drapes didn’t make it look like a families’ RV,” Kimmel told TV station WTVR. “When I saw the young girl’s face, I said, that’s not going to happen.”

Kimmel called the sheriff’s department. Deputies came and interviewed the 20-year-old woman, who told gruesome stories of torture, imprisonment, and forced prostitution at the hands of a man and woman she said kidnapped her in Iowa and transported her to Virginia.

The story’s lurid nature made headlines across the country and pulled back the curtain on the connection between long-haul trucking and human trafficking. But Kimmel’s action showed truckers are fighting back.

Big-rig drivers have called the National Human Trafficking Hotline more than 1,000 times since 2009. Last year, they placed 214 calls. Hotline director Nicole Moler said trucker “tips have led to countless arrests and recoveries of victims across the country.”

Although Kimmel had a good idea about what he witnessed at the Virginia truck stop, it isn’t always so clear. Ed Crowell of the Georgia Motor Trucking Association said truckers have to “learn to recognize the signs when we see them and then commit to acting on what we see.”

According to Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT), telltale signs include a victim who doesn’t seem to know her whereabouts, doesn’t have control of her personal identification, and seems tense or exhibits fear, anxiety, or depression.

TAT, headquartered in Englewood, Colo., distributed more than half a million wallet cards in 2014. Last year it launched the Truckers Against Trafficking app (for Android and Windows) designed to help truckers recognize “trafficking red flags.”

Thirty-one state truckers’ associations now partner with TAT.

“What better advocates to take part in the fight against this atrocious criminal activity than trucking and its professional drivers,” said Dale Bennett, head of the Virginia Truckers Association.

Several big companies have also jumped on board. Walmart Logistics announced plans to train its 7,200 drivers about human trafficking and place trafficking-awareness stickers on all company-owned trucks. Love’s Travel Stops plans to use a TAT video as part of the training for employees at its more than 300 locations.

Across the country, an estimated 5,000 truck stops offer weary travelers a place to sleep, eat, and shower. Sex traffickers often target these areas. A 2013 documentary detailing sex trafficking at truck stops called victims forced to work these areas “lot lizards.” But trucker Kent Kimmel looked past the derogatory labels and saw a young woman who needed help.