The American Trucking Assns. (ATA) has opened its selection process for the 2005 America’s Road Team.

Sponsored by Volvo Trucks, the team is made up of 12 professional truck drivers, each with an outstanding safety record. Team members must also have a demonstrated commitment to educating the general public about highway safety, the contributions trucking makes to the national economy and on the positive contributions of the industry to the daily lives of all Americans.
The Road Team nomination and application process will be open until July 31, 2004. After an initial round of judging, 30 finalists will be announced Oct. 4, 2004 at the ATA’s annual Management Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas, Nev.
Judging for the final team will take place at ATA headquarters in Alexandria, Va., Jan. 17-19, 2005 — with the announcement of the 2005-06 America’s Road Team Jan. 19, 2005. The new captains will serve until Dec. 31, 2006.
Applications are available from Rowenna Martin, America’s Road Team manager, at (703) 838-1962 or rmartin@trucking.org, and from ATA member motor carriers.
America’s Road Team was created in 1986. Since then, Road Team captains have delivered the trucking industry and Volvo safety message to thousands of students of driver education programs, schools, business groups, the media, safety organizations, regulatory agencies and Congress.
New to their agenda is special Share the Road demonstrations for senior drivers and efforts to increase seat belt usage among their fellow professional truck drivers and other motorists.
They also talk truck safety with their driver peers at ATA member driver meetings, annual truck shows and state driving championships.
"America’s Road Team captains represent the best of our industry," said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves. "They speak well for the three million truck drivers who travel our highways and roads to deliver goods to all Americans safely and on time."
Candidates for the 2005 America’s Road Team must be fulltime company drivers for ATA member motor carriers or independent owner-operators leased to ATA members.