All-woman ‘Convoy For a Cure’ to roll in Oct







OTTAWA — What started as a lark during a three-way CB radio conversation earlier this summer has taken root and is about to become the world’s first all-woman truck convoy to raise awareness for breast cancer. Event organizer, Rachèle Champagne of Gatineau, Que., told Today’s Trucking she was driving along Highway 401 chatting with two other woman drivers, when she remarked how rare it was to have three woman drivers running together.

 "I thought to myself at the time, ‘wouldn’t it be neat if we could have an all-woman convoy?’ That gelled into an idea to create a convoy event to raise money for breast cancer research," Champagne said. "Breast cancer seemed like an obvious theme for an all-woman convoy, and that’s how the "Convoy for a Cure" was born."
 

Champagne, a company driver with Bytown Backhaulers, has been in planning mode ever since. She has managed to land several prominent industry suppliers as partners, including Cornwall’s Fifth Wheel Truck Stop, Bob Lodge’s 730 Truck Stop, Ultramar Pipeline Fuels, Kriska Transport, Lavigne Truck Lines, Bytown Backhaulers, and XM Satellite Radio’s French-language trucking show, Truckstop Quebec. She has even managed to recruit AVON as a major sponsor.

 

Convoy For a Cure has about 25 female
drivers signed up and looking for more




 

The Cornwall Fifth Wheel Truck Stop has pledged $1,000 of fuel to be shared between participating trucks to offset the cost of running the 62-km trip. Ultramar has offered $500 fuel to be split between the two drivers with the highest sponsorship contributions. The 730 Truck Stop will be sponsoring a BBQ for all participants at the end of the run.

 

 

"An all-woman convoy may seem like a bit of a novelty, but I’ve already had 25 woman drivers sign up, and I know several fleets in Quebec that are going to allow their female drivers to come out which could get us as many as 60 more trucks," says Champagne. "I’m the only woman driver out of 10 where I work [Bytown Backhaulers], but I know of a Quebec-based fleet with 30 drivers, and eight of them are women. They’re all coming out."

 

The Convoy for a Cure rolls out on Oct. 18 at 12:00 pm at the Fifth Wheel Truck Stop in Cornwall, Ont. (Highway 401 exit 792). It will travel 62 km west along Highway 401 to the 730 Truck Stop in Cardinal, Ont. (Highway 401 exit 730). Registration forms available at various truckstops in Quebec and Ontario along the Montreal-Toronto corridor, on the OBAC website, and at the new Convoy for a Cure website.

 








All proceeds go to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Registration forms are available by email from Rachèle at convoi2008@live.ca. The entry fee is $50, payable on the day of the convoy.



 


Have your say


This is a moderated forum. Comments will no longer be published unless they are accompanied by a first and last name and a verifiable email address. (Today's Trucking will not publish or share the email address.) Profane language and content deemed to be libelous, racist, or threatening in nature will not be published under any circumstances.

*