Trucks (short story)
Encyclopedia
"Trucks" is a short story by Stephen King
, first published in the June 1973 issue of Cavalier
magazine, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift
.
diner after semi-trailers and other electronic devices are suddenly brought to independent life by an unknown force and proceed to gruesomely kill every human in sight. The six survivors hiding in the diner include the narrator, as well as an elderly black counterman, a trucker
, a young man named Jerry, his girlfriend, and a salesman named Snodgrass. As the story begins, the counterman and the trucker attempt to radio any other survivors, but the two-way radio
fails for unknown reasons. Snodgrass, cracking under the strain, attempts to flee across the stop's parking lot and is hit by a truck. Snodgrass gets propelled into a drainage ditch, taking hours to die from internal bleeding
. The situation worsens when the diner's power goes out. The counterman instructs the survivors that they will need to consume the perishable meats and collect good potable water from the restrooms. While the employee's restroom is inside the diner, the men's and ladies' room are by the outdoor gas station, and the narrator's attempt to gather fresh water from those places nearly costs him his life when the trucks realize what he is trying to do. Some time later, a note of hope appears when the trucks begin to run out of gas and a few literally stand still from lack of fuel. An enormous semi-truck noses up to the diner and starts blasting its horn at erratic times. Jerry remembers from his time in the Boy Scouts
that the horn blasts are Morse Code
and translates that the trucks are demanding humans start pumping fuel, to which the trucks assure they will not attack people who refuel them. The narrator is out-voted when he suggests they comply with this, and a bulldozer
arrives and proceeds to attack the diner. The narrator and Jerry destroy the dozer with improvised Molotov cocktails, but the diner is half-destroyed and Jerry and the trucker are killed. The remaining three humans surrender and, taking turns, start pumping the gas into the mile-long string of waiting trucks. When the narrator exhausts the fuel reserve of the truck stop's gas station, a fuel tanker arrives to replenish the fuel cisterns. When the narrator is at a point of collapsing, he is relieved by the counterman, who starts pumping gas for his "shift". The narrator says that he will have to show the girl how to handle a fuel pump, and that she had better stop being so dainty. The narrator thinks to himself that perhaps this will last only until the trucks rust and fall apart, but he then has a grim vision of forced assembly lines churning out new generations of trucks, and the trucks doing great efforts such as draining the Okefenokee Swamp
and paving much of the wild backcountry, where much of the world, maybe even the ocean
s, will be flattened out and remade in its new masters' image. The story ends as a pair of planes fly overhead, and the narrator laments "I wish I could believe there are people in them".
it was adapted for cinema with the tongue-in-cheek
King-directed
Maximum Overdrive
. In 1997
it was adapted again as the TV movie Trucks
, starring Timothy Busfield
, which was made on a considerably smaller budget than Maximum Overdrive.
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, first published in the June 1973 issue of Cavalier
Cavalier (magazine)
Cavalier is an American magazine that was launched by Fawcett Publications in 1952 and has continued for decades, eventually evolving into a Playboy-style men's magazine...
magazine, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift
Night Shift (book)
Night Shift is the first collection of short stories by Stephen King, first published in 1978. Many of King's most famous short stories were included in this collection.-Stories collected:-Details:...
.
Setting
"Trucks" takes place in a truck-stop in the United States. The truck stop is located off a freeway and it features a diner, a gas station, and a convenience store.Plot summary
The story's narrator and a handful of strangers find themselves trapped together in a freeway truck stopTruck stop
A truck stop is a commercial facility predicated on providing fuel, parking, and often food and other services to motorists and truck drivers...
diner after semi-trailers and other electronic devices are suddenly brought to independent life by an unknown force and proceed to gruesomely kill every human in sight. The six survivors hiding in the diner include the narrator, as well as an elderly black counterman, a trucker
Teamster
A teamster, in modern American English, is a truck driver. The trade union named after them is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters , one of the largest unions in the United States....
, a young man named Jerry, his girlfriend, and a salesman named Snodgrass. As the story begins, the counterman and the trucker attempt to radio any other survivors, but the two-way radio
Two-way radio
A two-way radio is a radio that can both transmit and receive , unlike a broadcast receiver which only receives content. The term refers to a personal radio transceiver that allows the operator to have a two-way conversation with other similar radios operating on the same radio frequency...
fails for unknown reasons. Snodgrass, cracking under the strain, attempts to flee across the stop's parking lot and is hit by a truck. Snodgrass gets propelled into a drainage ditch, taking hours to die from internal bleeding
Internal bleeding
Internal bleeding is bleeding occurring inside the body. It can be a serious medical emergency depending on where it occurs , and can potentially cause death and cardiac arrest if proper medical treatment is not received quickly....
. The situation worsens when the diner's power goes out. The counterman instructs the survivors that they will need to consume the perishable meats and collect good potable water from the restrooms. While the employee's restroom is inside the diner, the men's and ladies' room are by the outdoor gas station, and the narrator's attempt to gather fresh water from those places nearly costs him his life when the trucks realize what he is trying to do. Some time later, a note of hope appears when the trucks begin to run out of gas and a few literally stand still from lack of fuel. An enormous semi-truck noses up to the diner and starts blasting its horn at erratic times. Jerry remembers from his time in the Boy Scouts
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
that the horn blasts are Morse Code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
and translates that the trucks are demanding humans start pumping fuel, to which the trucks assure they will not attack people who refuel them. The narrator is out-voted when he suggests they comply with this, and a bulldozer
Bulldozer
A bulldozer is a crawler equipped with a substantial metal plate used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, etc., during construction work and typically equipped at the rear with a claw-like device to loosen densely-compacted materials.Bulldozers can be found on a wide range of sites,...
arrives and proceeds to attack the diner. The narrator and Jerry destroy the dozer with improvised Molotov cocktails, but the diner is half-destroyed and Jerry and the trucker are killed. The remaining three humans surrender and, taking turns, start pumping the gas into the mile-long string of waiting trucks. When the narrator exhausts the fuel reserve of the truck stop's gas station, a fuel tanker arrives to replenish the fuel cisterns. When the narrator is at a point of collapsing, he is relieved by the counterman, who starts pumping gas for his "shift". The narrator says that he will have to show the girl how to handle a fuel pump, and that she had better stop being so dainty. The narrator thinks to himself that perhaps this will last only until the trucks rust and fall apart, but he then has a grim vision of forced assembly lines churning out new generations of trucks, and the trucks doing great efforts such as draining the Okefenokee Swamp
Okefenokee Swamp
The Okefenokee Swamp is a shallow, 438,000 acre , peat-filled wetland straddling the Georgia–Florida border in the United States. A majority of the swamp is in Georgia and protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the Okefenokee Wilderness. The Okefenokee Swamp is considered to be...
and paving much of the wild backcountry, where much of the world, maybe even the ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
s, will be flattened out and remade in its new masters' image. The story ends as a pair of planes fly overhead, and the narrator laments "I wish I could believe there are people in them".
Adaptations
The story has been adapted twice for the cinema. In 19861986 in film
-Events:*April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle.*April 26 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver.*May - Actress Heather Locklear marries Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee....
it was adapted for cinema with the tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
King-directed
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
Maximum Overdrive
Maximum Overdrive
Maximum Overdrive is a 1986 American action-horror-science fiction film written and directed by novelist Stephen King. The screenplay was inspired by and loosely based on King's short story, Trucks, which was included in King's first collection of short stories, Night Shift.Maximum Overdrive is...
. In 1997
1997 in film
-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...
it was adapted again as the TV movie Trucks
Trucks (film)
Trucks is a 1997 Canadian and American television thriller film directed by Chris Thomson. It is a remake of the 1986 Action/Horror film Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive.-Plot:...
, starring Timothy Busfield
Timothy Busfield
Timothy "Timmy B" Busfield is an American actor and director best known for his role as Eliot Weston on the television series Thirtysomething and his recurring role as Danny Concannon on the television series The West Wing...
, which was made on a considerably smaller budget than Maximum Overdrive.