OSHAWA, Ont. — After almost 20 months of politicking, the National Truckers Alliance of Canada (NTAC) has officially filed incorporation papers and it didn’t receive a dime from Ottawa to do so.

“There was no money from the government, we didn’t get a penny,” says Bill Wellman, one of the group’s interim directors. “All we got was services … help getting it going.”

Those services will add up, mind you, to the tune of an estimated $380,000. According to Wellman that’s how much help the federal government will have given the fledgling O/O association by next year at this time.

Wellman complains talk of a lump-sum payment from Ottawa muddied the waters and made it difficult to push NTAC forward.

“Everybody had their own agenda,” he says of the various groups hoping to join with him in the creation of NTAC. He explains the problem was they all kept asking, “How are going to divide this money up?”

Most have since left the table and the interim directors will now choose who from the industry will form what will eventually be the first Board of Directors for the new trucker group. In addition to Wellman, the others charged with the critical task include Dave Marson and Blain Houlind, both from Alberta, and Jon Summers, of Newfoundland.