Today is the first day of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) five-day annual awareness and outreach effort in the U.S. to educate commercial motor vehicle drivers, motor carriers, law enforcement officers and the general public about the crime of human trafficking, the signs to look for and what to do if you suspect someone is being trafficked.
This week, law enforcement jurisdictions, companies with trucks and motorcoaches, and transportation safety organizations in the U.S. will conduct human trafficking awareness and outreach activities and submit data about those activities to the Alliance. CVSA will gather and analyze the data and report the results this summer.
Leading up to this week’s initiative, CVSA educated its membership and the public on human trafficking through webinars, social media, articles, training sessions, radio appearances and online resources. The Alliance and TAT (formerly Truckers Against Trafficking) have been distributing wallet cards, posters and window decals, which may be ordered at any time.
There is also nationwide digital media campaign underway with videos featuring a human trafficking survivor, truck driver and commercial motor vehicle enforcement officer. The videos are available in 30-second and five-minute versions, along with a Spanish-language version. The videos are publicly available for download to be shared.
According to the U.S. Department of State’s 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report, “trafficking in persons” and/or “human trafficking” refer to the crime whereby traffickers exploit and profit at the expense of adults or children by compelling them to perform labor or engage in commercial sex.
Accurately tracking and reporting human trafficking is difficult due to its underground nature. Interactions are kept secret, traffickers don’t keep records, and many victims never report their exploitation due to fear, stigma, shame or lack of resources. However, some verifiable data is available. Human trafficking has been reported to authorities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, on tribal land and within U.S. territories. In 2022, 1,656 individuals were prosecuted for human trafficking, and 1,118 individuals were convicted of a human trafficking offense.
If you suspect someone is being trafficked or you are the victim of human trafficking, call 911. The National Human Trafficking Hotline is also available at at 888-373-7888, via text message at 233733 or through online chat. The hotline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Support is provided in more than 200 languages, and all calls are confidential and answered live by highly trained anti-trafficking hotline advocates.
To find out what your local jurisdiction is doing to increase human trafficking awareness, contact the agency or department responsible for overseeing commercial motor vehicle safety within your state or territory.
CVSA’s members are commercial motor vehicle safety officials and motor carrier industry representatives in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. As a North American organization, Canada and Mexico will also participate in CVSA’s Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative, with each country having its own dates. In Canada, the initiative is scheduled for Feb. 23-27, and in Mexico, it will be March 16-20.
The annual Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative is part of CVSA’s Human Trafficking Prevention Program. The program seeks to reduce human trafficking throughout North America through coordinated enforcement and investigative and educational awareness measures within the commercial motor vehicle industry.
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Original article published by CVSA