The U.S. Senate last week approved two bills dealing with human trafficking that would, if passed by the House and signed by President Trump, affect truck drivers and the trucking industry.
One bill, sponsored by Sen. John Thune (D-S.D.), would permanently disqualify truck drivers from holding a CDL if they’ve been convicted of a human trafficking crime.
The No Human Trafficking on Our Roads Act would institute a lifetime CDL ban on any trucker “who uses a commercial motor vehicle in committing a felony involving an act or practice [in violation of] the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.”
The Senate also passed the Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act, sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), which would establish the position of human trafficking prevention coordinator within the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Secretary of Transportation would designate someone to fill the position, which would coordinate human trafficking prevention efforts across different DOT agencies, such as the FMCSA. The bill would also increase human trafficking outreach, education and reporting efforts at FMCSA, and provide financial assistance to CDL schools that implement anti-trafficking education.
“The Senate’s passage of these bipartisan bills is an important step in the ongoing battle against human trafficking,” Thune said in a press release after the passage of the bills. “These bills create a common-sense consequence for egregious wrongdoing and serve as a starting point for better recognition and reporting of human trafficking by commercial drivers.”
Truckers Against Trafficking in its August newsletter addressed the two bills, noting it has only given support to Klobuchar’s bill to establish a human trafficking prevention coordinator.
Both bills still have to be passed by the House and signed by President Trump before being enacted.
