Bay Area Truckers
Trucker Themed Fiction
Here is a list of truck driver themed novels, films, poems, and more, as compiled by Paul Carlson. With thanks to Andy Duncan, plus the folks on the Analog magazine, Asimov's magazine, Realms of Fantasy magazine, Yard Dog Press, and Truckers Road forums, plus several Romance and Mystery discussion forums.
These stories are so rare that I loosened the criterion for this list, to include tales that feature a trucker protagonist and/or a big truck, or a mobile armored vehicle, or some futuristic means of trucking. (There's one story about a sentient truck, and one about a road crew.)
Sometimes it's a judgment call. There might be trucks around, but are they big-rigs, and central to the plot or protagonist? (I've decided to stick with trucks, as "four wheeler" automobile fiction is much more common.)
With one or two exceptions, these are all commercially published texts, not 'vanity press' or self-published titles. (Self-publishing by truckers is a fast-growing effort, though unfortunately there's no effective quality control, no matter how much money the author shelled out.)
Major Genre Categories:
Trucker Science Fiction novels:
Starrigger, by John DeChancie, and its sequels Red Limit Freeway and Paradox Alley
Damnation Alley, by Roger Zelazny
SF short stories:
18 Wheels of Science Fiction, edited by Eric Miller (With eighteen genre stories.)
"Off Road," by Harry Lang (In the September/October 2018 issue of Analog magazine.)
"Artisanal Trucking, LLC," by Mary Robinette Kowal (In the March/April 2018 issue of Asimov's magazine.)
"The Highway Code," by Brian Sableford (Collected in Year's Best SF 15)
"Over Flat Mountain," by Terry Bisson (Collected in Bears Discover Fire.)
"Journey," by Paul Carlson (Collected in Fall and Rise.)
"Shotgun Seat," by Paul Carlson (In Analog magazine's July/August 2008 issue.)
"Rule Book," by Paul Carlson (In the March 2011 issue of Analog. Followed by "Crooks" and "Silent Mode," also in Analog.)
"/w/i/t/h By Good Intentions," by Carrie Richerson (In F&SF magazine.)
"Killdozer!" by Theodore Sturgeon (Collected in Killdozer! Volume III )
"Where the Golden Apples Grow," by Kage Baker (Collected in The Year's Best Science Fiction: 24th Annual Collection.)
"On the Storm Planet," by Cordwainer Smith
"Bringing It All Back Home," by Bud Webster (In Analog magazine.)
"Catalyst Run," by Jesse Miller (In Analog magazine.)
"Over the Long Haul," by Martha Soukup (Collected in The Arbitrary Placement of Walls.)
"Jubilee," by Wynne Whiteford (Collected in Alien Shores.)
"The Distant Sound of Engines," by Algis Budrys (In F&SF magazine, collected in Entertainment.)
"Juggernaut Jones, Trucker," by A. R. McKenzie (In Amazing magazine.)
"Truck Driver," by Robert Chilson. (Collected in Terrorists of Tomorrow.)
[Friendly truckers play bit parts in many Robert Heinlein stories.]
SF movies & TV episodes:
Space Truckers, from Stuart Gordon (Based, much too loosely, on John DeChancie's novel Starriggers.)
Damnation Alley, from Jack Smight (Based on the Zelazny story.)
The Road Warrior, from George Miller, and its sequels
"Parasites Lost," from Matt Groening (A Futurama episode.)
"Dead Run," from Alan Brennert (A New Twilight Zone episode, based on the Greg Bear story.)
'Trucker Science Fiction' Music:
The Truck Stop at the End of the World, by Commander Cody
Truck Driving Vampire, by Michael Longcor
{Plus hundreds of 'Truck Driving Country' songs}
Trucker Fantasy novels:
The Brotherhood of the Wheel, by R.S. Belcher
The River of the Dancing Gods, by Jack L. Chalker
Fantasy short stories:
"The Night We Buried Road Dog," by Jack Cady (Also his "The Burning" and "Singleton," etc.)
"Dead Run," by Greg Bear (In Omni magazine, anthologized in The Collected Stories of Greg Bear.)
Fantasy movies:
Big Trouble in Little China, from John Carpenter
Trucker Horror novels:
Wolf Flow, by K W Jeter
Lot Lizards, by Ray Garton
The Black Mariah, by Jay Bonansinga
Horror short stories:
18 Wheels of Horror: A Collection of Short Horror Trucking Stories, edited by Eric Miller
"Duel," by Richard Matheson (Collected in Duel, Terror Stories.)
"Trucks," by Stephen King (Collected in Night Shift.)
"West Coast Turnaround," by John Wooley, et. al. (In Eerie magazine.)
Horror movies:
Duel, from Steven Spielberg (Based on the Matheson story.)
Joy Ride, from John Dahl
Maximum Overdrive, from Stephen King, and Trucks, from Chris Thomson (Both are based on the King story.)
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Mainstream & Literary Trucker Novels:
Gonzalez and Daughter Trucking Co., by Maria Amparo Escandon
The Tennessee Truckers Roundup, by John L. Lemay
Mainstream & Literary Short Stories:
none ???
Trucker Action/Thriller Novels:
Rig Warrior, by William Johnstone (Plus its sequels.)
Le Salaire de la peur {"Wages of Fear"}, by Georges Arnaud
Action/Thriller Short Stories:
Twilight's Last Gleaming, by Terri L. Jenkins-Brady, Timothy D. Brady, and Joan E. Del Monte
Action/Thriller Movies:
Convoy, from Sam Peckinpah
Smokey and the Bandit, from Hal Needham (Plus its sequels and knockoffs.)
They Drive by Night, from Raoul Walsh (Starring Humphrey Bogart.)
Le Salaire de la peur {"Wages of Fear"}, from Henri-Georges Clouzot (Based upon the Arnaud novel.)
Breakdown, from Jonathan Mostow
Over the Top, from Menahem Golan
Trucker Romance Novels:
Red High Heels, by Rotha Dawkins (Plus several other titles.)
Romancing the Road, by Terri Brady and Tim Brady
Vancouver: the Gem of Canada, by Gail Sattler
Phoenix Rising, by Mary Kirk. (Silhouette Special Edition #524, 1989.)
Driven, by Eve Kenin
Weekend Warriors, by Fern Michaels.
[One of her recent "Sisterhood" novels features a lady trucker.]
Trucks Driving Woman, by Elizabeth August (Silhouette Romance #590)
Trick My Truck But Don't Mess With My Heart, by LuAnn McLane (Signet Eclipse)
Me and You and a Truck Named Blue, by Robin Stears (2005)
Big Truck, Tender Heart, by Liz MacClintock and Tom Q. MacClintock (2001)
Annie's Hero, by Maggie Shayne (Avon, 1997)
Truck Stop, by Allie McCormack (2001)
The Right Moves, Jan Hudson (Loveswept)
The Bumpy Road of Trucking and Romance, by Helmer Bjerkebek
Romance Short Stories:
"Miracle on I-40," by Curtis Ann Matlock (Collected in Silhouette Christmas Stories, 1988.)
Trucker Poetry:
Reflections Thru My Windshield, by Dave Madill (Plus additional volumes.)
Christian Trucker Novels:
Jesus Trucking Company, by Rick Amidon
Young Adult & Children's Trucker Books:
Truckers, by Terry Pratchett
Truck Dogs, by Graeme Base
Big Rigs (Blastoff Readers: Mighty Machines), by Kay Manolis
Trucks and Trucking, by Mike and Ruth Wolverton
Duck in the Truck, by Jez Alborough
Trucks (Touchy-Feely Board Books), by Fiona Watt
Truck Talk, Rhymes on Wheels, by Bobbi Katz
Trucker Mystery Novels:
The Vanishing Gold Truck, by Harry Stephen Keeler (Lulu, reprinted by his fans.*)
Mystery Short Stories:
"How's My Driving?" by Loren D. Estleman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Jan./Feb. 2008 issue.)
[* Normally I would not include any 'vanity press' or 'self published' works on this list. However, the original editions are nearly sold out, and Mr. Keeler's reprinted novel remains the only book in this category.]
Trucker Humor:
You Know You're married to a Trucker When... , by Miles Wheeler and Nadine Wheeler
Trucker TV Shows:
Movin' On {starring Claude Akins}
Trucker Video & Board Games
Silent Hill: Origins
Galaxy Trucker
Trucker Comics
Razorback {A Marvel Comics superhero}
U.S. 1 {A Marvel comic, featuring US Archer, Jefferson Archer, Poppa Wheelie, and Wide-Load Annie}
Trucker-King, Die großen Trucker-Abenteuer {from the former East Germany}
Trucker Nonfiction:
The Long Haul, by Finn Murphy
Uncommon Carriers, by John McPhee
Big Rig: Comic Tales from a Long Haul Trucker, by Don McTavish
Three Arm Trucking, by Gary Bricken
A Thousand Miles From Nowhere: Trucking Two Continents, by Graham Coster
Trucking in America: Moving the Goods: A Nostalgic Reflection--, by Ron Kowalke.
{Note: there are numerous 'how to' books for truckers, however I've concentrated on books of general interest.}
Trucking Related Scholarship:
Trucking Country, The Road to America's Wal-Mart Economy, by Shane Hamilton
Trucking in the Age of Information, edited by Dale Belman and Chelsea C. White III
The Big Rigs: Trucks, Truckers and Trucking, by Kathleen S. Abrams
Pedal To The Metal: The Work Life of Truckers, by Lawrence J. Ouellet
Trucker Ghost Stories, edited by Annie Wilder
Heavy Traffic: Deregulation, Trade, and Transformation in North American Trucking, by Daniel Madar
Know of any more? Suggestions
are welcome. Email us via Paul Carlson at, ewriters \at\ aol
/dot/ com, and please make your subject line distinct.
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