Key Points

• Marathon Petroleum is raising awareness about human trafficking through a wrapped trailer and employee training as part of its partnership with Truckers Against Trafficking.
• Trained transport driver Larry Mihajlovich uses the trailer and conversations on the road to promote recognizing and reporting signs of trafficking.
• The initiative encourages the public to learn the indicators of human trafficking and report suspicious activity to authorities or the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and Marathon Petroleum is a proud partner of Truckers Against Trafficking, a nonprofit organization focused on educating others about human trafficking, how to identify it and how to report suspicious activity.  

Truck drivers are in a unique position to spot potential human trafficking situations. Since launching the initiative in 2023, Marathon Petroleum has trained hundreds of employees, including truck drivers, to identify human trafficking situations on the road and how to report suspicious activity.

Now, one truck in Marathon Petroleum’s fleet is also spreading the message about human trafficking and ways to combat this crime.

“We have one truck in our fleet with a Truckers Against Trafficking message wrapped on the trailer,” said Marathon Petroleum Transport Operations Supervisor Brent Freece. “Every trip our driver makes is raising awareness about this important issue.”

“Every trip our driver makes is raising awareness about this important issue.”

Marathon Petroleum Transport Driver Larry Mihajlovich, who has taken the Truckers Against Trafficking certification program, says the new truck wrap does get a lot of attention.

“People driving by me on the road see the sign, honk and give me a thumbs up,” said Mihajlovich. “When I’m delivering product to our terminals across the Midwest, I talk to coworkers and other drivers about it. I hand out the Truckers Against Trafficking stickers. I try to do my part to help.”

Marathon Petroleum also has collaborated with local and state law enforcement agencies in Ohio, the Findlay Police Department and the Ohio State Highway Patrol, to combat human trafficking.

“This type of partnership could lead to successful outcomes of disruption of criminal networks, identification and recovery of possible victims and effective prosecution of traffickers,” said Chief James Mathias with the Findlay Police Department.

Human trafficking is often hidden in plain sight and happens in all 50 states.

“Human trafficking persists as a silent epidemic across the country,” said Colonel Charles A. Jones, Ohio State Highway Patrol Superintendent. “The patrol remains committed to working with our partners to disrupt traffickers and help victims find safety.”

Everyone can learn to recognize the signs and report it.