A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction, with a cabin that is independent of the payload portion of the vehicle. Smaller varieties may be mechanically similar to some automobiles. Commercial trucks can be very large and powerful and may be configured to be mounted with specialized equipment, such as in the case of refuse trucks, fire trucks, concrete mixers, and suction excavators. In American English, a commercial vehicle without a trailer or other articulation is formally a "straight truck" while one designed specifically to pull a trailer is not a truck but a "tractor".
A truck driver is a person who earns a living as the driver of a truck, which is commonly defined as a large goods vehicle (LGV) or heavy goods vehicle (HGV).
Mary Ellen "Mala" Powers was an American actress.
They Drive by Night is a 1940 American film noir directed by Raoul Walsh and starring George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, and Humphrey Bogart, and featuring Gale Page, Alan Hale, Roscoe Karns, John Litel and George Tobias. The picture involves a pair of embattled truck drivers and was released in the UK under the title The Road to Frisco. The film was based on A. I. Bezzerides' 1938 novel Long Haul, which was later reprinted under the title They Drive by Night to capitalize on the success of the film.
Outrage is a 1950 black-and-white B-movie starring Mala Powers. It was directed by Ida Lupino. Lupino also co-wrote the script, along with the producers Malvin Wald and Lupino's then-husband Collier Young.
Carry On Cabby is a 1963 British comedy film, the seventh in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992). Released on 7 November 1963, it was the first to have a screenplay written by Talbot Rothwell from a story by Dick Hills and Sid Green. Regulars Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey are all present. Liz Fraser makes her third appearance and both Bill Owen and Esma Cannon make their final appearances. This was the first film in the series to feature Carry On regular Jim Dale, and the first not to feature Kenneth Williams in the cast. Williams turned down the role of Allbright due to what he considered an inferior script. The part was scaled down, and given to Norman Chappell.
The Kraft Suspense Theatre is an American television anthology series that was produced and broadcast from 1963 to 1965 on NBC. Sponsored by Kraft Foods, it was seen three weeks out of every four and was pre-empted for Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall specials once monthly. Como's production company, Roncom Films, also produced Kraft Suspense Theatre.. Writer, editor, critic, and radio playwright Anthony Boucher served as consultant on the series.
Death Car on the Freeway is a 1979 American made-for-television crime thriller film starring Shelley Hack. In a plot similar to Steven Spielberg's Duel, this tells the story of an unseen driver who is dubbed "The Freeway Fiddler".
California Straight Ahead! is a 1937 American action film about truck drivers starring John Wayne and directed by Arthur Lubin for Universal Pictures. The action movie features a memorable cross-country race between a caravan of trucks and a special train.
The trucking industry serves the American economy by transporting large quantities of raw materials, works in process, and finished goods over land—typically from manufacturing plants to retail distribution centers. Trucks are also used in the construction industry, two of which require dump trucks and portable concrete mixers to move the large amounts of rocks, dirt, concrete, and other building materials used in construction. Trucks in America are responsible for the majority of freight movement over land and are tools in the manufacturing, transportation, and warehousing industries.
Trucker is a 2008 independent drama film by Plum Pictures written and directed by James Mottern, and produced by Scott Hanson, Galt Niederhoffer, Celine Rattray and Daniela Taplin Lundberg. It stars Michelle Monaghan, Nathan Fillion and Benjamin Bratt.
High-Ballin is a 1978 Canadian action comedy film about truckers directed by Peter Carter. The US release was rated PG, with a runtime of 97 minutes.
Haul trucks are off-road, heavy-duty dump trucks specifically engineered for use in high-production mining and exceptionally demanding construction environments. Most are dual axle; at least two examples of tri-axles were made in the 1970s. Haul trucks are denominated by their payload capacity, by weight.
The Colossus of New York is a 1958 science fiction film from Paramount Pictures, produced by William Alland, directed by Eugène Lourié, that stars Ross Martin, Otto Kruger, John Baragrey, Mala Powers, Robert Hutton, and Charles Herbert. The screenplay was written by Thelma Schnee, the maiden name of Thelma Moss, who later became a famous parapsychologist. The film's storyline is credited to Willis Goldbeck, while John P. Fulton handled the special photographic effects, and Wally Westmore handled the makeup. Paramount Pictures theatrically released Colossus in June 1958 as a double feature with The Space Children.
City Beneath the Sea is a 1953 American technicolor adventure film directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Robert Ryan, Mala Powers, Anthony Quinn and Suzan Ball. The film is based on the book Port Royal: The Ghost City Beneath the Sea by Harry E. Rieseberg.
The portrayal of the trucking industry in United States popular culture spans the depictions of trucks and truck drivers, as images of the masculine side of trucking are a common theme. The portrayal of drivers ranges from the heroes of the 1950s, living a life of freedom on the open road, to the depiction of troubled serial killers of the 1990s. Songs and movies about truck drivers were first popular in the 1940s, and mythologized their wandering lifestyle in the 1960s. Truck drivers were glorified as modern day cowboys, outlaws, and rebels during the peak of trucker culture in the 1970s.
Call of the Yukon is a 1938 American action adventure film produced and released by Republic Pictures, directed by John T. Coyle and B. Reeves Eason and starring Richard Arlen, Beverly Roberts and Lyle Talbot. The film features extensive Alaskan location shooting by Norman Dawn who shot several films there. The film is based on the 1926 novel Swift Lightning A Story Of Wildlife Adventure In The Frozen North by Northern genre writer James Oliver Curwood. The film's working titles were Thunder in Alaska and Swift Lightning.
The Long Haul is a 1957 British drama film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Victor Mature, Patrick Allen and Diana Dors. It is based on the novel The Long Haul by Mervyn Mills.
Texas Lightning is a 1981 film written and directed by Gary Graver and starring Cameron Mitchell, Cameron Mitchell Jr., Maureen McCormick, and Peter Jason.
Mystery Road is a 2013 Australian crime film with neo-Western elements and setting, written and directed by Ivan Sen. It was screened in the Special Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. A film sequel entitled Goldstone was released in 2016, and TV series in 2018, all featuring Aaron Pedersen as the brooding Indigenous Australian detective Jay Swan.
