TAT records productive 2011
Many people live each day by the saying "Seeing is Believing."
But vision ...
Vision seeks to realize the potential of the unseen by captivating the imagination, capturing the heart and creating tomorrow's reality. The vision Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) started with in 2009 was of educating, equipping, empowering and mobilizing members of the trucking industry to play a critical role in the fight against human trafficking ... becoming the abolitionist heroes of the 21st century. Who better? Industry members, whether over-the-road (OTR) or local truckers, travel plaza or truck stop employees, carrier executives or trucking school trainers, trucking suppliers, communicators or lobbyists, are familiar with and/or travel every road in the country. The trucking industry moves America. In the course of their work, they have the opportunity to see human trafficking taking place ... and to do something about it.
In 2011, TAT spent time casting its vision for the trucking industry in a variety of venues. The vision was caught by individuals as well as corporations and companies, and TAT recorded some significant milestones toward the realization of its vision. We share those with you here:
- To accelerate growth and gain the insight and perspective of members of the trucking industry in a consulting capacity, TAT moved from an initiative of Chapter 61 Ministries to its own 501(c)3 organization with a board composed of trucking industry members as well as abolitionists.
- Kendis Paris, a founding member of Chapter 61 Ministries, was named national director of TAT.
- TAT held its first press conference at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas in August to introduce the trucker who had made the call which resulted in the rescue of Shari, the human trafficking victim featured on the TAT training DVD. Also introduced were a number of truckers who have become truckers against trafficking.
- TAT made presentations at the first Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition conference, the Commercial Vehicle Training Association conference, the Hear the Cry conference hosted by Freedom Legacy International; the Converse City Council County Chambers meeting; received a special recognition award at the first annual Truck Driver Social Media Convention; and manned booths at both the Mid-America Trucking Show and the Great American Trucking Show, the industry's two largest annual trucking shows.
- TA Petro and Pilot Flying J, two of the nation's largest travel plaza chains, declared their public support for TAT and began including TAT materials as part of their employee training as well as speaking about TAT to their customer base.
- TAT received publicity in numerous publications this year, especially with the announcements concerning TA Petro and Pilot Flying J. These have included Fleet Owner, The Trucker, Trucker Connection, LandLine, Randall Reilly and many association newsletters as well as multiple interviews on numerous trucker-specific radio shows. The Dave Nemo Show, with popular trucking on-air interviews, has started a monthly series on abolitionism. Target Media Partners also plans to run a series of TAT articles in their publications starting January 2012.
- Carol Cipriano of Carol's Travel Time has planned and is doing a trucker cruise in October 2012 as a fundraiser for TAT. Featured entertainer will be Joey Holiday, a well-known trucking musical celebrity. Trucking sponsors for raffle prizes for the cruise include Tenstreet LLC, TCI, TA Petro, OOIDA and IdleAir.
- The California Trucking Association ordered 4000 DVDs and 80,000 wallet cards to distribute to their 4,000 member contacts; and the Nevada Motor Transport Association ordered 500 DVDs and 3000 wallet cards for their member contacts. Upon reviewing TAT materials, the Colorado Motor Carrier Association (CMCA) invited TAT to one of its meetings where members of the local travel plaza industry and the Colorado Department of Transportation were present and responded favorably to TAT's message. Johnson's Corner and Acorn Food Stores, both members of CMCA, are displaying and distributing TAT materials, as well as training their employees with our training DVD.
- TAT has distributed between 180,000-200,000 wallet cards, over 7000 DVDs, in addition to posters and vent-window decals. People can also download the DVD straight from the TAT website. The DVD was also used to open a conference for over 200 law enforcement and judicial members in Tennessee. Wallet cards have recently been translated into Spanish and French and are currently being translated into French Canadian for use in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Requests for these materials come from individual truckers as well as companies and groups fighting human trafficking.
- TAT started and maintains a Facebook fan page (Truckers Against Trafficking), a Twitter account (TATKylla), a YouTube channel (Truckers Against Traff) and a Google non-profit page. TAT's social media coordinator has increased our Facebook following to over 3036 (the numbers have literally doubled since June 2011) fans. With the help of M3Media, we created a welcome page on our FB account that creates a mini-website with our video as well as links to our website. Facebook fans can watch our video without leaving their current browser. We also created an ad campaign on FB which brought us 70 new fans.
- Current followers on Twitter are 12,874, with the help of software provided free of charge from M3Media.
- Our YouTube channel has our TAT video trailer as well as other relevant videos for TAT uploaded. We have applied for YouTube non-profit status and are awaiting approval.
- Our Google non-profit status was awarded in November, and the social media coordinator created a page that links back to our website.
- Through our social media presence, TAT has received offers to do radio shows and has built and maintained relationships with other abolitionist groups and truckers and trucking industry leaders, allowing us to raise awareness about human trafficking as well as TAT's specific mission.
- A company also volunteered its time and created an Android app of TAT's wallet card. It hopes to create an iPhone app as well.
- Polaris Project, which runs the national hotline, reported in early October that they had received 105 calls from truckers from May-September 2011, a significant jump over the 125 calls received from truckers from 2007-May 2011.
- Carriers who have requested TAT materials for training purposes with their employees include C.R. England, U.S. Express, Tango Transport, Danny Herman Trucking, Southern Illinois Express, Groendyke Transport, Navajo, Bridge Terminal Transport, J.B. Hunt (materials went to over 30 terminals and rail yards), and others . The Owner Operator Independent Driver Association also passes out TAT materials in its office.
TAT is regularly contacted by groups, both internationally and nationally, about ways to work together. These include other NGOs (non-governmental organizations), such as Not For Sale, a well-known abolitionist group; Men Against Sex Trafficking (MAST) in Canada; and the Illinois Truck Enforcement Association. Additionally, TAT works with volunteers throughout the nation to distribute its materials and further its message to members of the trucking industry in their local area.
TAT is also working to build partnerships with Taxis on Patrol, a program similar to TAT in so far as it asks taxi drivers to contact police when they see DUIs, hit and runs, etc., in order to have them add human trafficking and the national hotline number to their regular training. Possible intervention work could come out of this. TAT is also in the initial phases of speaking with police departments about using its driver database to work with law enforcement on surveillance and undercover operations, particularly those who have received grants from the FBI to develop human trafficking task forces. With these types of relationships growing, TAT has added to its list of formal goals: partnering with law enforcement to facilitate the investigation of human trafficking.
Flanking Kylla Leeburg (center) from Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) are Donna and Allen Smith, hosts of the radio show Ask the Trucker and founders of the Truck Driver Social Media Convention, who awarded (TAT) a special recognition plaque for our work in the fight against human trafficking. |