Senate Passes Legislation to Fight Human Trafficking in Transportation

The Senate passed two bills introduced by U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) aimed at preventing human trafficking in transportation.
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The Senate passed two bills introduced by U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) aimed at preventing human trafficking in transportation.

The No Human Trafficking on Our Roads Act, S. 1532, introduced by Sen. Thune, would disqualify individuals from operating a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) for their lifetime if they used a CMV to commit a felony involving human trafficking.

The Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act, S. 1536, introduced by Sen. Klobuchar and co-sponsored by Sen. Thune, would designate a human trafficking prevention coordinator at the U.S. Department of Transportation to focus on outreach and education to commercial truck drivers and bolster reporting efforts at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Both bills were approved by unanimous consent in the full Senate and have been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Sen. Thune, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, said the bipartisan bills serve as a starting point for better recognition and reporting of human trafficking by commercial drivers.

The committee held a hearing on July 12 to explore the role that transportation providers play in combating human trafficking.

NATSO and the NATSO Foundation underscored the truckstop and travel plaza industry’s commitment to combating human trafficking in a statement submitted for the record with respect to its hearing on how transportation and supply chain stakeholders are combating human trafficking. 

The NATSO Foundation has been helping members of the truckstop and travel plaza community engage in the fight against human trafficking since 2012. The NATSO Foundation’s goal is to provide the truckstop and travel plaza industry with the necessary tools to train owners, operators and employees so that those individuals are equipped to help if they encounter a victim of this horrible crime.

All members of the truckstop and travel plaza community are encouraged to take the NATSO Foundation’s online course titled, “The Role of Truckstops in Combating Human Trafficking” to learn how to recognize and respond to suspected incidents of human trafficking. The course is available free of charge so that any member of the truckstop and travel plaza industry can leverage this educational resource. The course can be accessed at www.natso.com/onlinelearning.

Additional resources for the truckstop and travel plaza community may be found at https://www.natso.com/human-trafficking.

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