For the past decade, truckers have had a major impact in combating human trafficking through simple online training offered by Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) and the situational awareness it promotes. ICSA Executive Director Karen Rasmussen has served on the TAT Board of Directors since 2017 and ICSA has supported TAT every year since we were chartered. We do this in two ways: by encouraging our members and their drivers and other personnel to take online TAT training and through a modest annual charitable contribution from ICSA to TAT.
If you’re still wondering why you should take a few minutes to get TAT trained, we refer you back to this quote from TAT Executive Director Esther Goetsch in her December Landing Gear blog, “With one phone call, a trucker who saw some under-aged girls working a truck stop not only facilitated the recovery of those girls, but also that of seven other minors. Thirty-one offenders were arrested, and a 13-state prostitution ring was broken.”
If you are not already TAT-trained, we urge you to take the training to learn how you can help prevent trafficking. ICSA members who complete the online training through February 3 will receive a brand new ICSA hat with our updated logo and be entered into a drawing for a $500 gift card.
No driver plans for a breakdown, but every driver should be ready for one. Mechanical issues, tire failures, or other unexpected problems can happen when you least expect it. Knowing how to safely bring your vehicle to a stop and protect yourself and others can help keep a minor inconvenience from becoming a serious incident.
For truckers, testing for marijuana continues. Just as with testing for cocaine, amphetamines, PCP, and opioids, testing for marijuana will continue to be conducted on a pre-employment, random, post-accident, reasonable suspicion, and return-to-duty basis.
As temperatures rise, so do the risks associated with tires, brakes, and overall vehicle condition. Summer heat doesn’t just stress drivers, it amplifies mechanical weaknesses, making maintenance and inspections more important than ever.