Ever Vigilant
Aeropres drivers take a stand against human trafficking...
Aeropres Corp. has invested in giving back to the community
in a big way. The manufacturer and distributor of highpurity
gases—including aerosol propellants—headquartered
in Shreveport, LA, is a partner
with, and Copper Level Sponsor
of, Truckers Against Trafficking
(TAT). TAT is a not-for-profit
organization dedicated to raising
a mobile army of transportation professionals to assist law
enforcement in the recognition and reporting of human trafficking
in order to aid in the recovery of victims and the arrest of their
perpetrators. It operates in the U.S. and Canada.
Aeropres’ involvement began when CFO Chris Rea, who has
friends that lead human trafficking ministries, heard a number of
heartbreaking stories about trafficking victims in their region. One
particular story that stood out was that of an underage girl brought
from Guatemala who was trafficked, raped and molested in a small
town in northern Louisiana.
“It bothered me to know that this girl
traveled down the interstate just a few
miles from our facilities—down the
very roads that our drivers are on
every day,” explained Rea. That’s
where TAT came into play.
“I had read an article about TAT
a year before and, after hearing the
story of this young girl, I knew we
had to get involved.”
It was then,
in early 2019, that
the leadership team reached out to Aeropres
Transportation Manager Terry Warren and
Environmental, Health & Safety Manager
David Fox. With their assistance, Aeropres
trained each of the company’s drivers and
embedded TAT training materials into its
new driver on-boarding process.
“Aeropres’ drivers travel millions of
miles each year, taking them to places that
traffickers often target, such as truck stops,
rest areas and hotels,” said Rea.
“With this training, they now have the
ability to identify the red flags of trafficking
and know how and where to report what
they are seeing.”
Warren shared her enthusiasm for the
program, noting, “We knew our drivers
would want to know about this cause and
become certified. Now, our drivers can
be an extra pair of eyes and ears for law
enforcement and can hopefully contribute
to the recovery of victims.”
One Aeropres driver, Keith Perkins, has
called the National Trafficking Hotline on
two occasions after observing young girls
alone at a truck stop, in one case going
from truck to truck.
Rea Warren Bowen
Driver training consists of a 30-minute video that explains what
human trafficking is, red flags to look for and how to report. It
also includes an interview with a survivor who was rescued after
a trucker called in (https://vimeo.com/21392891). Aeropres drivers
are provided TAT wallet cards and window stickers for each truck.
TAT also has an app that has red flags and the ability to report.
Materials can be found at: https://truckersagainsttrafficking.org/getour
materials./
According to TAT, 2,496 calls have been made to the national
hotline by truckers, with 1,230 victims identified and 663 likely
cases generated. There are 845,115 registered TAT-trained drivers.
In 2019, drivers from Aeropres’ Sibley, LA facility took 1,260
breaks at truck stops. These breaks would have been a minimum of
10 hours each, adding up to 12,600 hours
that drivers spent at truck stops last year.
Companies that do not have their own
transportation fleet can still get involved
through TAT’s Shipping Partners Program.
Other programs include The Freedom
Drivers Project, Coalition Builds,
Industry Training Program, State-Agency
Initiatives, TAT Dealership Partner
Program, Busing on the Lookout, Model
Replication, Law Enforcement Training
and Empower Freedom.
“At Aeropres, we are passionate
about ‘Making Lives Better’ for our
customers, employees and our communities,”
stated Joe Bowen, VP of
Sales & Marketing.
“This initiative aligns with who
we are as a company and we see it
as another opportunity to use our
resources to make a difference—in
this case, one that could forever
change the lives of those involved.
18th C. statesman and philosopher
Edmund Burke reminds us that ‘The
only thing necessary for the triumph
of evil is for good men (and women)
to do nothing.’”
For more information, visit:
truckersagainsttrafficking.org. Spray
24 Spray May 2020
Aeropres Certified TAT Drivers (L to R): Tim Haulcy,
Russell Myles and Keith Perkins