Mack Trucks Inc. announced Monday, Oct. 5, that it would continue as a major sponsor of the Share The Road highway safety education program for 2010. Volvo Trucks North America announced that it would continue as the sole sponsor of America’s Road Team in 2010. Both announcements were made at the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition in Las Vegas, Nev.
Share the Road, designed to enhance the safety of America’s roadways by teaching car drivers how to drive safely around large trucks, uses professional truck drivers with exemplary safety records to deliver lifesaving messages about potential blind spots, safe following distances, truck stopping distances and other important topics. Traditionally, the drivers have spread this information through demonstrations to local media, students, community leaders and highway users around the United States, using a SmartWay-certified Mack Pinnacle model tractor donated by the truck maker as part of its support of Share the Road. Today, additional communication channels also are being utilized.
“Share the Road has exposed millions of citizens to essential information on how to safely drive around large trucks,” says Michael McNally, Mack vice president of sales. “These messages have been delivered by the professional drivers who are the heart and soul of the Share the Road program. Their passion for safety helps them connect to a wide variety of audiences. And the program now reaches more at-risk young drivers than ever before through the use of social media, such as Facebook and YouTube.”
America’s Road Team, a trucking industry safety outreach program, uses professional drivers with outstanding driving records to deliver messages about highway safety and the essentiality of trucking. The program was founded and is run by ATA, and the members of the team are known as Captains, many of whom may have millions of miles of accident-free driving in their careers. They undergo a rigorous selection process to become part of the Road Team.
The Captains frequently are referred to as ambassadors for the U.S. trucking industry. Each year, they speak to hundreds of groups of lawmakers, government officials, students, regulators and other truck drivers. Their presentations include safe driving tips and highway safety information, much based upon their own experiences, as well as the importance of trucking to the American economy. The Captains frequently use a Volvo VN tractor, donated by Volvo Trucks, to pull a trailer outfitted extensively as a mobile presentation facility, allowing them to deliver their messages more effectively wherever they go.
“We view America’s Road Team as one of the most important proactive safety efforts in existence today,” says Scott Kress, Volvo Trucks senior vice president of sales and marketing. “The members of the Road Team demonstrate by personal example the trucking industry’s unwavering commitment to highway safety, a commitment which mirrors Volvo’s own core value of safety. Volvo Trucks is proud to continue as the sole sponsor of this outstanding program.”
