NATSO Foundation Invites Truckstops to Michigan Anti-Human Trafficking Meeting

The NATSO Foundation is inviting NATSO members to join the Office of the Michigan Attorney General, the Michigan Trucking Association, Michigan State Police, Michigan Department of Transportation and Truckers Against Trafficking May 30 for a regional meeting in Lansing, MI., aimed at coordinating ways to fight human trafficking within the state.
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The NATSO Foundation is inviting NATSO members to join the Office of the Michigan Attorney General, the Michigan Trucking Association, Michigan State Police, Michigan Department of Transportation and Truckers Against Trafficking May 30 for a regional meeting in Lansing, MI., aimed at coordinating ways to fight human trafficking within the state.

This private event is scheduled to be held May 30 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Michigan State Police Training Academy.

NATSO members with locations in Michigan are encouraged to attend this event, which is co-sponsored by the NATSO Foundation. All travel plazas and truckstops are invited to attend, regardless of NATSO membership.

Since 2013, NATSO has co-sponsored regional Coalition Builds with Truckers Against Trafficking, state trucking associations and law enforcement.

State coalition meetings provide an opportunity to educate members of the business community, transportation and law enforcement about human trafficking as well as serve as an open forum to discuss human trafficking trends in regional areas and to explore collective ways to combat this crime.

The NATSO Foundation has been helping members of the truckstop and travel plaza community engage in the fight against human trafficking for nearly a decade. Our goal is to provide our members with the tools they need to train their staff so that those individuals are equipped to help if they encounter a victim of this horrible crime.

NATSO members are encouraged to train their employees to recognize and respond to suspected incidents of human trafficking using the NATSO Foundation’s online course, "The Role of Truckstops in Combating Human Trafficking." The course is free to anyone in the truckstop and travel plaza community. Non-NATSO members should call Kimberly Roberts at 703-739-8573 or kroberts@natso.com to establish an account.

The NATSO Foundation also offers a “Combating Human Trafficking” toolkit that provides truckstops and travel centers a roadmap for implementing an anti-human trafficking education and awareness program at their individual locations.

The toolkit also contains a 50-state chart of human trafficking awareness poster laws. The chart is designed to help members understand how to comply with state laws on human trafficking awareness. This is an important tool for truckstops and travel centers as many state laws requiring human trafficking awareness materials reference businesses that provide services and amenities which many truckstop and travel plazas offer, such as overnight truck parking, food, fuel and lodging. To download the toolkit and the 50-state chart, click here.

The NATSO Foundation partnered with the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign to provide the industry with awareness materials that meet those state requirements. Those posters can be found here

NATSO works closely with the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, Polaris Project, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Truckers Against Trafficking and other local organizations to gain insight into best practices on how to educate our members.

Truckstops seeking additional information regarding the May 30 coalition meeting or who would like to learn about future coalition meeting locations should contact me at 703-739-8578 or twlazlowski@natso.com.

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