Human trafficking fight gets big boost from America's truckers

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Truckers join the fight against human trafficking

Fox News’ Garrett Tenney reports on veteran trucker Bob Bramwell’s heroic act saving a human trafficking victim by using his training with Truckers Against Trafficking.

Veteran trucker Bob Bramwell recalls his initial thoughts after being trained through a program provided by his company to spot the warning signs of human trafficking while on the road.

"When I was receiving the training for the first time, being a regional driver, right in small town America, I thought, this is something I'll never run across," he told Fox News.

However, the Missouri native did experience an instance of human trafficking and used the training to spot and save a young woman he found all alone on a desolate rural road just 50 miles from his home while in the car with his family.

"I pull up to a crossroad and a young lady was standing right there, and it was dark, cold, just the way she was dressed. I rolled the window down when I asked her if she was all right," Bramwell recalled.

Bob Bramwell used the training he received from Truckers Against Trafficking to help a young women in distress he found standing along a desolate stretch of road in Missouri. (Fox News)

"Immediately the tone in her voice, even though she said okay, I knew things were not okay."

Bramwell said that he felt the woman was apprehensive in speaking with him, and that he turned on the dome light of his car so she could see that he was with his family. He eventually assured her that night that she could safely get her to come inside the car to safety.

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"She had no idea where she was," he said. "Once we figured it out to the level of what we're dealing with, obviously we got her to [a] safe haven."

The trucker said he could see the effects that trafficking had on the young woman.

"I had a private conversation away from my children with her. She told me how she had been held hostage for over a month, drugged and raped, and her child was being held at another location that she didn’t know."

He continued, "It was very apparent then that it was time to call local authorities and get them involved. And, you know, when that was mentioned, she obviously didn't want to do that because she felt so bound by her captors that if she didn't go back, what would happen to her daughter?"

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It was Bramwell’s employer, ABF Freight System, that set up the training for his colleagues and him. It has been proved throughout the trucking, bus and energy industries for the past decade by Truckers Against Trafficking, a nonprofit group focusing on combating human trafficking within the U.S. To date, the group has trained over 1.5 million industry professionals and has worked in conjunction with national trucking organizations including the American Trucking Association.

Truckers Against Trafficking has trained over 1.5 million people across industries. (TAT training video)

Bramwell said he was taught how to spot "red flags" while driving his routes, things like people being in areas that no one would not normally be and vans hauling around large groups of young women through parking lots.

"It's very eye-opening once you take the training," he said. "You realize some of the things you've been seeing out on the road… it all comes together."

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According to a report from the Polaris Project that analyzed data collected from the National Human Trafficking Hotline, there were a total of 10,359 trafficking situations reported in 2021, and out of those situations, a total of 16,554 likely victims were identified.

"Crime is the intersection of opportunity, interest, and benefit. Trafficking is where those things all come together there," Jean Bruggeman, the executive director of Freedom Network USA, said to Fox News.

"The commonality for all trafficking cases is that the trafficker is exploiting the vulnerability of the individual," she added. "Trafficking happens everywhere. Wherever there is a lot of transportation. There are a lot of people moving in and out."

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Bob Bramwell told Fox News that he does not consider himself a hero, but was grateful to be able to help that young woman. (Fox News)

Bramwell said that he has continued to be on the lookout for warning signs of people being trafficked against their will, and that his motivation to help others has been simple.

"When you go through the training, and you hear the survivor stories and, you know, you put. You think of it as that could be somebody's daughter," he said. "That could be somebody being forced into doing something they don't want to do and not be able to live the life that they're able to live." 

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He said he is glad his training enabled him to help at least one person.

"I hope she's able to live the life that she wants to live of her own free will."

Fox News' Andrew Keiper contributed to this report.