| ALEXANDRIA, VA— The
American Trucking Associations (ATA) Highway Watch® program announced
that Richmond, Virginia-based Overnite Transportation, a UPS Company, is
the first of the top 100 trucking companies to train 100 percent of its
drivers in the Highway Watch® program.
Highway Watch® is a national safety and security
program that utilizes the skills, experience, and “road smarts” of
America’s transportation workers to help prevent terrorists from using
large vehicles or hazardous cargoes as weapons and to protect
America’s critical highway transportation infrastructure. The program
is administered by ATA under an agreement with the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security (DHS).
“We are extremely proud to be the first company
in the nation to be 100 percent certified in the Highway Watch®
program,” said Leo Suggs, Overnite’s President and CEO. “We have
always worked to be first in all segments of the industry and our
participation in Highway Watch® is no different. Overnite urges our
fellow carriers to follow suit by doing their part to keep our country
safe and secure.”
Overnite Corporation, a subsidiary of UPS, is one
of North America’s leading less-than-truckload transportation
companies. Its principal operating company, Overnite Transportation
Company, operates in all 50 states, Canada, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S.
Virgin Islands and Mexico. Its sister company, Motor Cargo Industries,
is a regional, less-than-truckload carrier primarily serving the western
United States, Hawaii and Canada. Together, they form one of the largest
less-than-truckload operations in North America with more than 200
service centers.
“I applaud Overnite for their tremendous
commitment to keeping America safe,” said Bill Graves, President &
CEO of ATA. “They worked hard to achieve their 100 percent goal and
they’re the first in the nation to do it. ATA is proud to have them as
a partner in the Highway Watch® program.”
In March 2004, ATA entered into a $19.3 million
cooperative agreement with DHS to expand its Highway Watch® program on
behalf of the highway sector. Fueled by this cooperative agreement and
an additional $21 million earmarked for 2005, Highway Watch® will
provide instruction for hundreds of thousands of highway transportation
professionals—including commercial truck and bus drivers, school bus
drivers, state Department of Transportation (DOT) workers and
others—and also administer a national Highway Watch® Call Center as
well as the Highway Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC).
Highway transportation sector professionals are
welcome to join Highway Watch® by calling the national toll free number
at 1-866-821-3444 or checking out our website at www.highwaywatch.com.
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