Remember these great flicks? What are they? Road movies, of course, but more importantly, they are trucking films. Here is a genre nearly forgotten that Navistar, which builds legendary International trucks, hopes to single-handedly revive.

The company that just launched a revolution in long haul trucking by building the mold-shattering LoneStar Class 8 tractor is now launching another first – a student film competition that will ask aspiring auteurs and cineastes to celebrate the lives and labors of long-distance truck drivers in a short film format.

You could be the next Spielberg, Sam Peckinpah or even Henri-Georges Clouzot.

On May 1, 2008, Navistar is sending out a call for entries to approximately 50 universities and film schools around the country asking ambitious filmmakers to hit the road and produce short films or videos that honor the American trucker. These emerging mavericks will then submit their final product in a competition to win film school tuition or top-notch camera equipment.

Academy award nominated producer/director Brett Morgan (Chicago 10, The Kids Stays in the Pictures) will chair a jury of filmmakers who will judge all submissions. First, second and third prize winners will premiere their films at The Great American Trucking show in Dallas, Texas, on August 22, 2008, and will be featured as streaming content on InternationalTrucks.com. The films will also be included as bonus material on a DVD with “Stand Alone,” Brett Morgen’s upcoming feature length film about truckers.

It’s time for new filmmakers to release the jake-brake, hammer down, and make cinema that really matters, films about real life on the road. Put it this way: if America’s drivers decided to stop working, the entire country would shut down. We depend on truckers to deliver everything we own and consume. Truckers are that important. They are true American heroes.

Merle Haggard sang it this way: “The whiteline is a lifeline for the nation… It takes a special breed to be a truck drivin’ man, And a steady hand to pull that load behind.”