Florida Launches New Front in Fight Aga Against Human Trafficking By Terry L. Rhodes Florida’s thousands of miles of highway and growing economy present Floridians and visitors with many opportunities to travel for work and fun. However, while our expansive transportation system affords us so much, criminals target our state and use our highways to traffic women, men, and children. Human trafficking – or modern-day slavery – is a horrendous crime that can take place in many forms and places. Victims of trafficking can be young children, teenagers, and adults who are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor. Florida’s half a million commercial drivers are in a unique position to make a difference and actively stand against traffickers who seek to exploit our transportation system for their personal gain by serving as the eyes and ears of our highways. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) has partnered with Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, the Florida Trucking Association, and Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) to launch a campaign aimed at enlisting more of Florida’s commercial truck drivers in the fight to end human trafficking by becoming certified through training offered by TAT. The initiative – Highway Heroes – involves a multimedia campaign, outreach materials mailed directly to commercial driver license (CDL) 16 | FALL 2020
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holders, and a new website with resources and information on identifying and reporting human trafficking. To learn more about the Highway Heroes initiative, and to become a certified TAT-trained driver, please visit FLHSMV.gov/HighwayHeroes. The training only takes approximately 30 minutes of your time and could prove invaluable in our shared goal of stopping human trafficking. Our longtime partners at the Florida Trucking Association have been dedicated to the mission of training professional drivers to spot and report human trafficking for many years, and
Attorney General Moody, who serves as Chair of the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking, has made fighting human trafficking one of her major priorities. We cannot be siloed in our efforts to combat trafficking in our state. It takes a strong united front, and with the support of our trucking industry professionals, we can make our roads the first line of defense in our fight for A Safer Florida. Terry L. Rhodes is the Executive Director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
