North Bay to host Ontario Truck Driving Championships

Ontario Truck Driving Championships
News Release

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Truck drivers from across Ontario and their families will converge on the City of North Bay from July 11 to 13, 2008, as the city plays host to the Ontario Truck Driving Championships, along with their Partner in Safety the Ontario Ministry of Transportation National Safety Code Challenge. Approximately 500 people are expected to visit North Bay for this event, which involves a series of difficult, competitive tests.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the 2008 Ontario Truck Driving Championships, which will be held at the Jack Garland Airport, North Bay, Ontario on July 12, 2008 at 9:00 am. Throughout the day onlookers can witness the precision and skill of many of Ontario’s finest professional truck drivers.

Delegates of the Ontario Truck Driving Championships will stay at hotels throughout North Bay, however the North Bay Best Western Hotel & Conference Centre will be the primary host for many events.

BACKGROUNDER

About The Ontario Truck Driving Championships:
The Ontario Truck Driving Championships (OTDC) was designed to create greater public awareness that truck driving is important and necessary profession. For 60 years, the Championships have provided a forum for professional truck drivers to display their skills and encourage drivers and their employers to take an active interest in the safety, skill and courtesy needed to conduct a responsible business on Ontario streets and highways.

Through a series of difficult, competitive tests that measure the level of driver expertise, the contestant’s knowledge of rules of the road, safety, courtesy and efficiency in vehicle handling are evaluated.

Six Competitive Classes:

• Step Van
• Straight Truck
• Single-Single
• Single-Tandem
• Tandem-Tandem
• Train

Regional, private and company championships are held annually throughout Ontario. These Championships are held among drivers working in the private and for hire trucking sector.

Up to 500 people are involved in this event, including delegates, participants and their families, judges and committees, and key industry decision makers, plus many more spectators.

History of the Event:

In 1947, the Ontario Truck Rodeo Group was born by the Automotive Transport Association (ATA) and the Transportation Safety Association of Ontario (TSAO) which covered Class 20 under the Workers Compensation Board (WCB).

J.O. Goodman of the ATA and Vic Doody of the Transportation Safety Association of Ontario (TSAO), which covered Class 20 under the WCB, worked on the Ontario Rodeo Group and were the founding members.

This group has always been, and is still today made up of industry volunteers.

In 1988, the official name of the organization was changed to the Ontario Truck Driving Championships to more accurately reflect what the organization was all about.

For more information about the Ontario Truck Driving Championships, please contact Peter Hostler at (519)442-2263 locally, or Penny Rabishaw at (905)693-0660.

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