Online Education Courses Launch for Truck Stop Operators
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — With an initial goal to prove “How Truckstops Help People,” the NATSO Foundation introduced its first online training suite consisting of four e-learning courses intended to help teach members of the truck stop and travel plaza industry how to respond to requests for help from people in need of assistance in various life-threatening scenarios.
The first module, titled “The Role of Truckstops in Combating Human Trafficking” is now available. The course is available on the NATSO Foundation’s new learning management system for free to the truck stop and travel plaza industry. The course can be accessed here.
“Truck stop owners, operators and employees often find themselves in a position to help people with more than just their basic needs of food, fuel and rest,” said NATSO Foundation Chairman Jenny Love Meyer. “We’re taking meaningful action to ensure that the truck stop industry is prepared to respond. The truck stop and travel plaza industry takes seriously the fight against human trafficking, and our goal is to provide our members with the tools they need to train their staff so that those individuals are equipped to help if they encounter a victim of this horrible crime.”
A second module, titled “How Truckstops Help the Homeless,” will be available in the coming weeks. It will focus on what to do for drivers who are suffering from distress and how to respond during a natural disaster.
“We are excited to deliver online education to the nation’s truck stop and travel plaza community,” added NATSO Foundation President and CEO Lisa Mullings. “Through the NATSO Foundation’s online training tools, truck stops nationwide now will have a new avenue for strengthening their knowledge base and supplementing their own employee training. Equipping truck stops and their staff with accessible online education will play a key role in helping truck stops improve and grow for the future, ensuring the vitality of the truck stop industry as a whole.”
Alexandria-based NATSO is a trade organization representing America’s travel plazas and truck stops.