January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month: Learn How You Can Help Fight Crime
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) aims to educate and empower commercial motor vehicle drivers and other transportation-industry professionals to recognize the signs of human trafficking and report the crime to authorities.
Since 2010, January has been designated as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and January 11 is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Throughout the month, FMCSA will host events across the country to educate and encourage CMV drivers to keep an eye out for signs of human trafficking while on the job. These events are open to commercial truck drivers, transportation/logistics company representatives and U.S. Customhouse brokers as well as the general public. Join us on the following dates:
Friday, January 10, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am CT
Presentations from FMCSA, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations
Laredo College
De la Garza Building, Room DG 101
West End Washington Street
Laredo, TX 78040
Thursday, January 16, from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm ET
Port Huron Welcome Center
Westbound Interstate 94
Port Huron, MI 48060
Increasing Education on Human Trafficking Prevention
In addition to providing education about preventing this crime, FMCSA offers funding opportunities to help raise awareness through two discretionary grant programs, Commercial Driver’s License Program Implementation (CDLPI) and High Priority Commercial Motor Vehicle (HP-CMV) grant. For more information on the CDLPI grant, please refer to our previous blog here.
The HP-CMV grant provides financial assistance to enhance CMV safety-related activities nationwide. Projects can include increasing public awareness and education on CMV safety, targeting unsafe driving in high-risk crash corridors, demonstrating new technologies to improve CMV safety, safety data improvement and other projects that help meet FMCSA’s safety-first mission.
Eligible organizations for HP-CMV grants include state and local governments, federally recognized tribal governments, law enforcement organizations, public and private colleges and universities, non-profits and other entities that support CMV safety-related activities.
Grant Funding Examples
The State of Louisiana received a HP-CMV grant to improve recognition, reporting, enforcement and outreach/public educate of human trafficking in commercial motor vehicles.
Meanwhile, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) used their grant to increase public awareness in the trucking community about human trafficking. Virginia Tech and other partners in Virginia joined FMCSA at a press conference last July for World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, highlighting ongoing efforts to combat human trafficking along highway I-81.
The press conference was held at a weigh station in Stephens City, Virginia, which allowed FMCSA to share human trafficking materials with CMV drivers after they completed safety inspections. The materials contained information to help truck drivers understand the signs of human trafficking and how to report suspected human trafficking.
In nearby Indiana, the Indiana State Police is using their HP-CMV grant to reduce crashes through traffic enforcement, work zone enforcement and rural road enforcement. They are focusing on commercial motor vehicle inspections, non-commercial motor vehicle enforcement and human trafficking prevention, helping ensure state roads remain safe for everyone.
Investing in America
Overall, the agency awarded nearly $150 million in 2024 through its four discretionary grants. To date, the U.S. Department of Transportation has announced more than $500 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for over 63,000 specific projects and awards in all 50 states, D.C., and U.S. territories.
We invite eligible organizations to be a part of this impact across the country. The Notice of Funding Opportunity for this year’s High Priority grants has been released. Check the announcement [CJ(1] to see if your organization is eligible to apply.
Learn more about HP-CMV and other grants at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/grants.
Also, be sure to access FMCSA’s resources on how you can make a difference by being part of frontline defense to prevent human trafficking — not just this month, but year-round.
