Trucker Themed Speculative Fiction
A compilation of truck driver themed SF, Fantasy, and Horror films and stories, 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 discussion forums.
These stories are so very rare that I've loosened the criterion for this list, to include all spec-fic genre stories, films, etc., that feature a trucker protagonist and/or a big truck, or an armored transport vehicle. (Sometimes it's a judgment call. There might be trucks around, but are they central to the plot or protagonist?)
SF novels:
Starrigger, by John DeChancie, and its sequels Red Limit Freeway and Paradox Alley
Damnation Alley, by Roger Zelazny
SF short stories:
"Dead Run," by Greg Bear (In Omni magazine.)
"Over Flat Mountain," by Terry Bisson (Collected in Bears Discover Fire.)
"Journey," by Paul Carlson. (Collected in Fall and Rise.)
[With his novella "Shotgun Seat" coming to Analog magazine, later in in 2008.]
"/w/i/t/h By Good Intentions," by Carrie Richerson (In F&SF magazine.)
"Killdozer!" by Theodore Sturgeon
"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.)
"Juggernaut Jones, Trucker," by A. R. McKenzie (In Amazing magazine.)
[Friendly truckers play bit parts in many Heinlein stories.]
SF movies and TV episodes:
Space Truckers, from Stuart Gordon (Based on a short story???)
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.)
Fantasy novels:
Truckers, by Terry Pratchett
The River of the Dancing Gods, by Jack L. Chalker
Fantasy short stories:
???
Fantasy movies:
Big Trouble in Little China, from John Carpenter
Horror novels:
Wolf Flow, by K W Jeter
Lot Lizards, by Ray Garton
Horror short stories:
"Duel," by Richard Matheson
"Trucks," by Stephen King
"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 Steven King, and Trucks, from Chris Thomson (Both are based on the King story.)
Mainstream Tales:
[Just a small selection of the very best.]
Various stories written by Jack Cady
Convoy, from Sam Peckinpah
Smokey and the Bandit, from Hal Needham (Plus its sequels and knockoffs.)
'Speculative' Music:
The Truck Stop at the End of the World, by Commander Cody
Video Games:
Silent Hill: Origins
Nonfiction:
Common Carriers, by John McPhee