DETROIT – In Southwest Detroit, a group of truck drivers got some special training and it had nothing to do with driving.
They were being trained to spot potential human trafficking victims.
Michigan has many highways and thousands of cars and trucks drive on the roads everyday. Driving has been a lifelong career for truck driver Andre Harris.
He has been behind the wheel since 1985. Harris has witnessed a lot over the years, but lately he is paying attention to what is happening off the roads.
“We stop at the rest stops and we see things and you know when something ain’t right,” said Harris.
He is talking about human trafficking. “I haven’t seen it with my eyes, but I know it is going on. Young girls, young boys, walking around and you know if you don’t see them with family or nothing, they have no business there,” said Harris.
The non-profit organization Truckers Against Trafficking held a news conference, asking truckers to be alert of human trafficking.
“I would say it’s a common factor, common thing here in the state,” said James Clark with Truckers Against Trafficking.
Clark said human trafficking in both the sex and labor industries is a $150 billion annual industry, that robs up to 40 million people of their freedom.
“I look for anything out of the ordinary. Men or people who are going back and forth, say to a RV parked on a lot, at a truck stop,” said Clark.
It’s those signs, he wants others to look out for as well. “People better wake up man, to what is going on. It’s not pretty at all,” said Harris.
Here are a couple of signs to pay attention to, if you see vehicles with extra dark tint, that maybe a sign. Also at truck stops, if you see little boys or girls walking around without a family member, that is another possible sign.