TORONTO — The Ontario Trucking Association needs carriers to give up some of their best drivers a couple days a month to help shine a bright light on the trucking industry.

The OTA is looking for Ontario’s finest professional truck drivers to serve as industry ambassadors on its 2007-2008 Road Knights Team. The current team of Road Knights will finish its term at the end of 2006 and replacements are required.

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 Ontario 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.”

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 x 224.