MONTREAL, Que. – The Quebec Trucking Association is launching a new program to heighten understanding between the province’s road-using public and professional truck drivers, and is looking for a few good truckers to do the job.

The program, called Ambassadeurs de la Route, seeks drivers with stellar records and a knack for dealing with the public. Its goal in part is to bridge the gap between the various road users and increase the trucking industry’s profile in the province.

Drivers selected for the team must be able to dedicate at least two days a week to the program, which will last two years. That dedication includes securing the approval of employers; however, as the association points out, employers will benefit by having their profiles increased in the eyes of the public – as well as the eyes of the market.

According to Diane Cloutier, the Quebec Trucking Association’s principle director of compliance and management, the group got its inspiration from the Ontario Trucking Association’s Road Knights.

Road Knights were first selected in 1995, with teams featuring up to 10 professional and PR-friendly drivers. “We needed to put a face behind the wheel,” said OTA spokeswoman Rebecka Torn, who coordinates the group’s activities. The OTA had realized the average Ontario resident had very little understanding of truck driving, and borrowed its example from the American Trucking Association. Its program, called America’s Road Team, was created in 1986.

Cloutier said part of the Ambassadeurs’ mission will be to visit different social groups, and stress the industry’s importance to the Quebec economy. She foresees startup costs of about $27,000, and carrying costs of about $17,000 for each two-year tour of duty.

Torn declined to disclose the costs for the Road Knights, but said they are covered in part by the Ontario Trucking Association and the companies for which the men drive.

Applicants must be employed by Quebec-based companies. And applications will be due Dec. 11. n