Bill Graves, president of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), has thanked executives and employees of Mack Trucks Inc for the company’s continuing support of ATA’s Share the Road highway safety initiative, including providing a MACK Pinnacle tractor used in the program.
Graves visited Mack headquarters at Lehigh PA to discuss industry issues with company officials and provide an update on Share the Road’s success in 2008. Mack is the founding sponsor of Share the Road and has provided funding for the effort since 2001. Graves thanked Mack President Dennis Slagle for the truck and Mack’s ongoing support.
"Mack has an exemplary commitment to safety and we thank them for their support in helping us bring our message of safety to the motoring public," Graves said. "By providing ATA's Share the Road program with a new Mack Pinnacle tractor, Mack helps our professional drivers demonstrate first-hand what a truck driver can and cannot see on the road. It's an incredible educational tool that’s working to make our nation's highways safer."
Share the Road uses a team of professional truck drivers with outstanding safety records to educate the general public how to drive around large trucks, a skill most motorists have never been taught. Through the use of interviews and demonstrations with local and national media, these drivers provide motorists with information regarding safe following distances, potential blind spots, and other tips. This information not only opens motorists’ eyes, but also actually changes driver behavior, which has a direct impact on the safety of our roadways.
In his comments to the Mack executives, Graves stated that recent government statistics point to a significant decline in accident rates, injuries and fatalities – indicating that efforts such as Share the Road have a positive effect on highway safety. Traffic fatalities involving tractor trailers and passenger vehicles are at their lowest levels in 30 years, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The Mack Pinnacle tractor provided earlier this year for use in Share the Road is equipped with numerous advanced safety technologies, including antilock brakes and Mack Roll Stability Advantage by Bendix. Designed for excellent driver visibility, the truck provides a perfect platform for demonstrating how cars and trucks can safely share the road. It is the second truck Mack has provided to the ATA for Share the Road in recent years. The new vehicle has already racked up more than 50,000 miles in service of the program.