Prime Inc., one of the nation’s largest truckload carriers, has announced that it has joined the Amber Alert Highway Network, an initiative to help recover abducted children. The Amber Alert Highway Network — a collaboration between the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Qualcomm; and supported by transportation industry associations, including the American Trucking Associations — is the first secondary-distribution initiative to direct Amber Alerts to professional truck drivers who are near the alert area.
“Our drivers are the ambassadors of the road,” says Robert E. Low, president of Springfield, Mo.-based Prime. “We are privileged to participate in such an admirable cause. Our drivers can provide an invaluable service to our children. We are proud to play a part in the Amber Alert Highway Network.”
Prime joins the growing number of transportation and logistics companies committed to the safety of America’s children. The new initiative has the potential to add thousands of trucks and drivers to the Amber Alert Highway Network. Combined, the member companies dispatch more than 35,000 drivers across the country every day. Prime’s company drivers and independent contractors will participate while on the roads of North America.
“Qualcomm is proud of how quickly the Amber Alert Highway Network is growing as transportation companies such as Prime join this important effort,” says Joan Waltman, president of Qualcomm Wireless Business Solutions. “We’re honored to work with NCMEC, Prime and their drivers across the country to help locate abducted children.”
Secondary methods of distribution such as the Amber Alert Highway Network, which delivers alerts through Qualcomm’s OmniTracs mobile communications system, assist in achieving the overall goal of the Amber Alert program, which is to notify as many people as possible about a recent child abduction and provide information that can help in the search for the abducted child, suspected abductor, vehicle and in the safe return of the child. The Amber Alert program is a voluntary partnership between law enforcement agencies, broadcasters and transportation agencies to issue an urgent bulletin in the most serious child abduction cases.
“Truck drivers have already proven to be a valuable asset in monitoring the nation’s roads for missing children,” says Ernie Allen, NCMEC president and chief executive officer. “This technology increases the reach, and therefore the effectiveness, of Amber Alerts. Just one driver knowing what to look for on the road could assist law enforcement in the safer recovery of an abducted child.”
Each of the 50 United States has a statewide Amber Alert program, as do the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Since the program’s inception in 1997, Amber Alerts have been credited with the successful recovery of more than 270 children. For drivers to receive alerts through onboard communications solutions, transportation carriers must be enrolled in the Amber Alert Highway Network. For more information about the Amber Alert Highway Network and instructions to enroll, go to www.qualcomm.com/qwbs or call 800-348-7227.
