User:ErgoSum88/Truck drivers in popular culture (United States)

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In the early days of trucking culture, truck drivers were frequently portrayed as protagonists in movies (Convoy, White Line Fever, Smokey and the Bandit).

In Trucking country: The road to America's Wal-Mart economy, author Shane Hamilton explores the history of trucking and how developments helped the so-called big-box stores dominate the U.S. marketplace.


In the 1950s, truck drivers were considered the "Knights of the Road" for helping stranded travelers. Drivers were viewed as the antithesis of the "organization man", who wore a suit to work or was watched over by managers. Popular trucking songs glorified the life of drivers as independent "wanderers", while attempts to bring factory-style efficiency (using tachographs) to trucking were met with little success. Drivers routinely sabotaged and discovered new ways to falsify the machine's records.[2]

The decade of the 70s saw the heyday of truck driving, and the dramatic rise in the popularity of "trucker culture". Truck drivers were romanticized as modern-day cowboys and outlaws[3] (and this stereotype persists even today).[4] This was due in part to their use of Citizens Band (CB) radio to relay information to each other regarding the locations of police officers and transportation authorities. Plaid shirts, trucker hats, CB radios, and using CB slang were popular not just with drivers but among the general public. In 1976, the number one hit on the Billboard chart was "Convoy," a novelty song about a convoy of truck drivers evading speed traps and toll booths across America. The year 1977 saw the release of Smokey and the Bandit, the third-highest-grossing film of that year, beaten only by Star Wars Episode IV and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.[5]

Recent years have seen the decline of trucking culture, and the image of drivers has generally moved to a more negative portrayal. As a result truck drivers are frequently portrayed as antagonists in movies (Duel, Suspect Zero, Joy Ride).

The 1991 film Thelma & Louise featured a recurring minor character; a dirty and abrasive truck driver who frequently harasses the main characters during chance encounters. Themla and Louise eventually get their revenge by blowing up his tanker truck full of gasoline.[6]

In 1982, a southern California truck driver named Larry Walters gained short-lived fame as "Lawn Chair Larry", for pulling a stunt in which he ascended to a height of 16,000 feet (4,900 m) by attaching helium balloons to a lawn chair. Walters claims he intended to float low to the ground, but was surprised when his chair initially shot up at a rate of 1,000 feet (300 m) per minute. Walters blamed poor eyesight for ruining his dreams to become an Air Force pilot, which eventually led to his stunt.[7]

The most infamous image of the 1992 Los Angeles riots was the Reginald Denny incident.[8] Denny was a white truck driver who had been caught in a black neighborhood during the riots, and was almost beaten to death.

In 2009, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released the results of a five-year long study (the Highway Serial Killings Initiative) investigating the unsolved murders of prostitutes, hitchhikers, and stranded motorists. Over 500 female victims have been compiled in a database, most of whom were killed or discarded at truck stops, hotels, and roadsides. The FBI has speculated that many of these victims were murdered by long-haul truck drivers, some of whom may be serial killers. Investigators speculate that the easy access to potential victims, mobility, and lack of supervision enjoyed by long-haul truck drivers have contributed to this phenomenon. The head of the initiative, Michael Harrigan, says most of the victims lead high-risk lifestyles (e.g., prostitution) which left them particularly vulnerable. In 2004, the FBI began investigating a string of murders in which the victims were found along the Interstate 40 corridor in Oklahoma and several other states, which sparked the creation of the Highway Serial Killings Initiative.[9]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Hamilton 2008, p. 109
  2. ^ Hamilton 2008, p. 108
  3. ^ Stern 1975
  4. ^ Drew 2007, pp. 82–84
  5. ^ "All-Time USA Box office". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
  6. ^ Dunne 2001, p. 95
  7. ^ Long 2009
  8. ^ Pendergast 2000, p. 157
  9. ^ Glover 2009

References[edit]

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