More than 3.5 million people drive trucks professionally in this country. They are the ones responsible for the food you buy in a grocery store, the TVs you purchase at Wal-Mart, the cars for sale on car lots. In short, truck drivers are the lifeblood of our free market society.

Because of that, each year, drivers are recognized for their hard work and sacrifices – which include days, or even weeks away from their families - with their own week, National Truck Driver Appreciation Week.

This year, the American Trucking Assns. is sponsoring a video contest for people to submit 1 to 2 minute videos explaining why truck drivers are essential parts of society. The winning video will be posted to ATA’s web site at www.truckline.com.

Deadline for contest entries is Oct. 15, 2009, so time is running out. According to ATA, videos can be submitted via video camera or cell phone and the organization is placing an emphasis on creativity and message rather than production of the video.

You can visit the organization’s web site to see some sample videos already posted. Full rules are also posted. So good or bad, tell your story.

Entries can be sent to ntdaw@trucking.org or American Trucking Associations, ATA Image and Outreach, 950 N. Glebe Rd, Suite 210, Arlington, VA 22203. Or, submissions can be posted to YouTube, tagged with “ATATrucksBringIt” and the URL emailed to ntdaw@trucking.org.