New Brunswick trucking company Day & Ross got its start hauling potatoes on the East Coast in the 1950s.
It has since grown into one of the largest transportation companies in North America.
Being a reliable shipping company in a global environment rife with supply-chain issues is tough, the company’s chief operating officer said, but combating cross-border human trafficking presents a whole new battle.
“Human trafficking was far more pervasive than any of us had thought,” said Doug Tingley while explaining why the trucking firm is donating $100,000 for the second straight year to the Truckers Against Trafficking organization.
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“We understood at some level it happened but we didn’t really understand that it was as widespread.”
Tingley said truckers can help combat the issue, which heavily uses the continental highway system to move vulnerable individuals caught up in human trafficking.
“It’s like a modern-day form of slavery,” said Tingley. “They’ve got these people under a lot of duress, they are moving them around to avoid detection, they are using highway systems to do so and, in some cases, they might be soliciting in a rest stop or truck stop.”
Providing training to the company’s thousands of drivers through Truckers Against Trafficking is one way the company hopes to help. The training is designed to make drivers more aware and alert law enforcement to suspicious circumstances.
“They (truckers) are criss-crossing the country every week and these folks can be the eyes and ears of the road,” said Tingley. “We thought if we could partner with Truckers Against Trafficking and give them some support to continue to provide the services they do and use their materials to train our people and expose our people to what was happening, we thought we could make a difference.”
The stories of survivors can be horrific, such as a case of one woman and her friend picked off the street while going to a convenience store.
“There was a trucker who noticed her and noticed something wasn’t quite right,” said Tingley, adding that particular trucker had exposure to the Truckers Against Traffickers training. “He called their 1-800 number and that got the authorities involved.”
The National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888 can provide further direction when trucker suspicions are raised, said Tingley.
He stressed that all transportation sector workers and companies should make use of the training offered by Truckers Against Trafficking.
Saskatchewan’s Protection from Human Trafficking Act came into force on April 20 to help stem what provincial Justice Minister Gordon Wyant called an under-reported issue.
That act strengthens the process for victims to seek protection orders against perpetrators while increasing penalties for human trafficking.
“While criminal charges will continue to be the first response to these terrible crimes, this offers community-based organizations and law enforcement another tool to assist victims of human trafficking in Saskatchewan,” said Wyant in a statement announcing the new legislation.
