Last year, Saia partnered with Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT), an organization leading the fight against human sex trafficking by, in part, establishing relationships with companies in the trucking industry.

Saia is in a unique position to help identify traffickers and victims by educating our drivers and management. That’s why we began rolling out the organization’s video-based training program last summer to Saia employees in Arkansas, Ohio, Texas and Washington.

It is our intent that by this March, every driver at all of our facilities will have completed the training and be issued a co-branded Saia and TAT certificate and become a certified trucker against trafficking.

Each year, TAT trains thousands of truckers, rest stop employees, and law enforcement officials on how to recognize trafficking and to intervene by safely calling a national hotline that alerts law enforcement. This approach has resulted in a significant increase in the number of reports of human trafficking, arrests, prosecutions, and, most importantly, recovery of victims.

Sex trafficking occurs any time there is a commercial sex act that is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or the person engaged in the act is under the age of 18. Sex trafficking is a serious and growing problem in the United States. Human trafficking cases have been reported in all 50 states. Atlanta, Ga. is a city with a particularly large human trafficking problem. It is especially tragic and alarming to consider that the victims are often children.

Saia is proud to take a stand in fighting human trafficking as we work with TAT on this initiative now and in the future. If you have any questions, please contact Chris Wright, Saia's director of safety.