Five Good Things: Best fleets and halting trafficking in its tracks
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Uber Freight trains truckers to spot trafficking
Uber Freight is expanding its partnership with Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) to bring free training programs to shippers and carriers in its U.S. and Canadian networks.
TAT’s Industry Training Program trains hundreds of thousands of industry members on the realities of human trafficking and how the trucking industry can combat it. The program has resulted in a significant increase in reports of possible trafficking cases to the national hotline from truck drivers, leading to victim recoveries and the arrest of criminals, according to Uber..
As the eyes and ears of our nation’s highways, professional drivers are in a unique position to make a difference in the fight against this heinous crime. Equipped with TAT’s free training program, Uber Freight’s network of shippers and carriers will be able to recognize and report human trafficking as a part of their everyday job.
“Uber Freight is dedicated to the fight against human trafficking, and it’s our ultimate mission to build safer communities for all,” said Bill Driegert, co-founder and head of operations at Uber Freight. “Our ongoing partnership with Truckers Against Trafficking gives us the tools we need to ensure our network is trained and ready to help the vulnerable and exploited. We encourage all shippers and carriers on our platform to take advantage of this free training to do their part to combat this crime.”
Women in Trucking highlights an exceptional member for February
The Women In Trucking Association (WIT) has selected Cara Howes as its February 2023 Member of the Month. Howes is a parts distribution center manager at Paccar Parts.
Howes has been interested in the trucking industry for as long as she can remember, to WIT. Her mother was a Paccar employee, and Howes has fond memories of “bring your daughter to work day” as a child. Her grandfather owned a tanker business in Oregon and was a longtime Kenworth customer. Howes loved spending summers with her father, befriending Kenworth truck drivers, and making trucks her playground. One of her favorite games growing up was playing “name that truck” on family road trips. For Howes, joining Paccar was an easy decision.
Howes has worked at Paccar for almost 15 years and has held key positions, including assistant director of customer service and assistant director of materials before switching to the operations side of the business.
The way stuff moves has always fascinated Howes. She loves coordinating the movement of truck parts from point A to point B and takes pride in getting things where they need to be, when they need to be there. Howes believes working in operations and logistics requires creative thinking and problem solving as no two issues are the same. While there are guidelines, every situation is unique and requires perseverance regardless of obstacles. She motivates herself and her team with the mantra that a truck is a driver’s home, and it’s critical they have access to the parts they need to stay on the road.
In addition to Howes' impressive professional career, she also serves in the United States Navy Reserve as a supply corps officer and was recently selected for the rank of commander. Howes deployed to Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012 as part of a Logistics Mobile Training Team focused on training the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police on logistics best practices across the country. Her personal awards include two Navy Commendation Medals, an Army Commendation Medal, and five Navy Achievement Medals.
Howes' husband also works at Paccar Parts as a supplier quality manager. They met while playing on the corporate softball team in 2007. Now, they stay busy raising their seven-year-old twin daughters. The girls know that mom and dad work for Paccar, the company that owns Kenworth and Peterbilt. Howes has passed down “name that truck” to her daughters with an “is it a Kenworth or a Peterbilt” twist. They cannot wait to work at Paccar when they are older.
Howes' advice to women wanting to break into the trucking industry is, “just do it. Take your comfort zone and smash it because growth comes from new challenges.”
See also: Women in Trucking appoints new leader
2023 Best Fleets to Drive For honored
Truckload Carriers Association and CarriersEdge have selected their 2023 Best Fleets to Drive For. Twenty winners have been recognized for the “exemplary work environments” they provide for their professional truck drivers and employees. This is the program’s 15th anniversary.
“This year's Top 20 and Hall of Fame fleets rose to the top with a range of inventive and effective programs, that reflect true innovation and creative thinking,” said CarriersEdge CEO Jane Jazrawy.
See also: TCA, CarriersEdge name 2023 Best Fleets to Drive For
Trucker stops trafficking in its tracks
This driver saw something, and said something, calling the police. His actions lead to the arrest of two human traffickers, potentially saving lives.
CDK Global reaches out to future technicians
Transportation technology provider CDK Global has donated $20,000 to the ASE Education Foundation to help increase diversity in the vehicle service industry and expand outreach to younger students.
The ASE Education Foundation works with over 2,300 high schools and colleges and 5,000 instructors nationwide, promoting industry-developed training program standards, entry-level credentials, and work-based learning. The donation from CDK Global will be used to promote career opportunities, such as those highlighted in ASE’s medium- and heavy-duty truck tests, to underrepresented groups and students at the elementary and middle school levels.
“Our efforts positively impact the education of well over 100,000 students each year. Thanks to the generosity of CDK Global, we will be able to enhance our programs in the coming year,” said Mike Coley, ASE Education Foundation president.
Some of the new initiatives the ASE Education Foundation has planned for the coming year include the development and implementation of grade-appropriate lessons and projects that teachers can use to supplement math and science curriculums. These programs would demonstrate some basic, and not-so-basic, concepts found in transportation technology and would include information about various career opportunities, emphasizing the fact that they are accessible and open to everyone.
In addition, activities will be developed that schools, as well as community groups like Boys and Girls Clubs, Girl Scouts, and Boy Scouts, can use outside of the classroom. These activities would be hands-on projects that would educate and inspire young people to continue to explore careers in vehicle service.
