LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Paul Vikner, president and CEO of Mack Trucks, Inc., announced yesterday that the company again will serve as the primary sponsor of the American Trucking Associations’ Share the Road program in 2005.

Designed to enhance the safety of America’s roadways by teaching car drivers how to safely share the road with large trucks, Share the Road delivers life-saving messages to hundreds of U.S. cities and reaches millions of motorists annually. The program uses as spokespeople members of ATA’s America’s Road Team, a group of professional truck drivers with exemplary safety records. The drivers travel to cities throughout the country and conduct safety demonstrations for local media as a way to reach the driving public. 2005 will mark Mack’s fifth consecutive year as sponsor of Share the Road.

"On behalf of our customers, dealers, dedicated staff, and the rest of the Mack family, it is my pleasure to announce that we will continue our support of Share the Road," Vikner said. "Safety is one of Mack’s top priorities, and we encourage others in the industry with a similar commitment to join us as co-sponsors next year, as together with the ATA we seek to extend the reach of this very important initiative. By teaching motorists how to safely drive around large trucks, Share the Road has played a key role in reducing the number of truck-related highway fatalities."

According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, car drivers inadvertently initiate up to 75 per cent of all truck-involved auto fatalities. And the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration indicates that 35 per cent of these accidents occur in a truck’s blind spots. By educating motorists about blind spots, safe merging and stopping distances, Share the Road, along with other trucking industry safety initiatives, is helping to reduce the number of accidents and save lives

"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently reported that car-truck fatalities remain below 5,000 for the second year in a row," said ATA President and CEO William Graves. “Over the years, the American Trucking Associations and member companies such as Mack have made tremendous strides in educating the driving public to lower this rate. We thank Mack for continuing to support Share the Road, and we look forward to bringing aboard additional industry sponsors next year to help ensure that our roadways are as safe as they can possibly be.”

For more information about Mack, visit www.macktrucks.com