TORONTO, Ont. – The current team of Road Knights will finish its term at the end of 2006 and the Ontario Trucking Association is searching for a team of successors.

The OTA is asking for assistance in locating Ontario’s finest professional truck drivers to serve as industry ambassadors on its 2007-2008 Road Knights Team. Road Knights are professional transport drivers with first class driving records who make presentations to community groups about sharing the road with trucks. Their mission is to make our roadways safer by encouraging all road users to be partners in safety. They also talk about careers in trucking and the importance of the industry to Canada’s economy.

“The transport drivers who make up the team are first-class drivers who represent their peers – Ontario transport drivers who are dedicated to safety and professionalism in the industry,” said David Bradley, president of the OTA. “They are highly qualified to spread the message of road safety because they travel our roadways every day and have faced every type of traffic and weather condition imaginable.”

This is an exciting opportunity for transport drivers to speak on behalf of the industry’s best drivers and an excellent way for carriers to demonstrate their commitment to road safety education, noted the OTA.

The time requirement is about one or two days each month. Some of the presentations Road Knights deliver include: “Sharing the Road with Trucks,” “Sharing the Road with Cars,” and “Careers in the Trucking Industry.”

The OTA provides media relations and public speaking training and sets up the speaking engagements.

Sample speeches, videos and brochures are also provided by the association. The program is open to both company drivers and owner/operators, but nominees must be based in Ontario and currently employed as a full-time truck driver by an OTA member company.

A nomination form is available from the OTA Web site or by contacting OTA’s communications manager at Rebecka Torn at 416-249-7401 ext 224.

For more about the OTA Road Knights Team program, visit www.ontruck.org.