National Truckers Alliance incorporates with new mission

TORONTO (Oct. 29, 2001) — The National Truckers Alliance of Canada (NTAC), the on-again, off-again association of owner-operators that arose from the fuel-price protests of early 2000, is officially on again, having formally incorporated earlier this month.

The group’s organizers include Bill Wellman, the Oshawa, Ont.-based protest leader who has been lobbying Ottawa to provide seed money for the organization. He says NTAC will focus on owner-operator business education and advocacy issues rather than disruptive intervention.

“That approach doesn’t work,” Wellman explains. “We’re going to provide owner-operators with an opportunity to enhance their quality of life by becoming better business people.”

In its mandate, the group also pledges not to intervene directly in the business affairs of its members or its affiliates, or to act in a manner that could be interpreted as collective bargaining.