Many years ago I remember asking owner-operator Dale Holman what kept him behind the wheel. Trucking is no easy job, after all. The hours are long. The tasks are complex and often physically demanding. Even the most comfortable sleeper will never be quite as inviting as a family home, especially when trips drag on for days or weeks at a time.

“It’s the sunsets,” he told me. “I’ve seen sunsets and sunrises on every horizon in North America. It’s that stuff, the moments that the tourists never get to see.”

Holman wasn’t the last person to share the observation. Many drivers refer to what they have seen when asked to describe their favorite moments on the job.

Now we’re introducing the chance to share a few of these sights with our readers.

Today’s Trucking is inviting you to grab your camera or smartphone on Wednesday, October 12 to show us your day at work – and your industry at motion.

Of course, we’re looking for more than roadside attractions or landscapes. We’d like you to take pictures of people and equipment on the job. Images could show mechanics completing repairs, the lunch counter in a favorite truck stop, your truck against the backstop of a port, or portraits of your coworkers. Maybe you would prefer to illustrate a challenge, such as crowded rest areas.

The choices are as endless as your creativity. (Just don’t take any pictures from the driver’s seat when a truck is in motion. Safety first.)

A long list of potential benefits awaits, as well.

First, let’s talk about the cold, hard cash. We’ll pay $200 for the best picture of the day, followed by $100 for second and $50 for third place.

Even better will be the bragging rights of having your work appear in Canada’s largest trucking magazine. We’ll publish winning photos and honorable mentions in the pages of Today’s Trucking and at www.todaystrucking.com. On Twitter we’ll share images of the day with the hashtag of #InMotion. You can be part of that by posting images of your own by using your own Twitter accounts on October 12.

The potential audience doesn’t end there. We’re partnering with several of our sister publications at Newcom Business Media, which are asking their respective readers to take pictures on the very same day. Transport Routier is reaching out to the trucking community in Quebec. Canadian Shipper and MM&D magazines are looking for pictures across the broader transportation, logistics and warehousing sector. CARS will peek into service bays, and L’Automobile will be looking across the broader automotive sector.

Trucks play a role in each and every industry that these magazines serve, which means that truly outstanding photos could even find themselves reproduced by more than one of the publications.

Think of it as a creative outlet, and a chance to show your peers the sights as only those in the trucking industry can see them.

Email the best picture that you take on October 12 to johng@newcom.ca. Entries are due by October 17. Just type “Picture This” in the subject line. And remember to set your cameras for the highest-possible resolution. The bigger the pictures, the better they will reproduce in a magazine.

Don’t worry too much about editing the photo. Our graphic artist, Frank Scatozza, is a whiz with such things. If he can improve some of our pictures, he can perform magic on any image.

Let’s help everyone to picture your day.