Continuity mistake: Toward the end when Crews runs in with Red he first knocks his right headlight out, later it is back in, then it's out again. (01:21:40)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where the Monte Carlo is battling with the Camaro, they go off road into a field. During a certain shot, the Camaro has to jump a hill and it goes airborne. While it's airborne, you can see the entire front end is destroyed. However, after it lands, you can see the front end of the Camaro is in excellent condition and it remains intact for the remainder of the film. I would guess that they used at least two Camaros for the film. (00:26:10)
Continuity mistake: Before the biker disconnects the air lines, he is shown on the back of the truck. At one point you can see that the air lines are already disconnected. Not to mention that the trailer tires will lock up without air, and shortly after the entire truck will lock up. (00:57:20 - 00:58:20)
Visible crew/equipment: In the bathroom scene when everyone has their guns out, look in the mirror behind Earl. You can see the cameraman in the bathroom stall. (00:52:00)
Factual error: When Swayze starts the truck, he turns a key and it starts. The key only switches on the electronics. Peterbuilts have a push button starter switch.
Other mistake: Crews is talking to his wife by telephone and says he is in North Carolina. The signage shows he is at the I-85/I-26 interchange in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Continuity mistake: At the end where Swayze is receiving his CDL, in one scene before he gets it he already has the envelope, but then in the next scene he is being handed the envelope. (01:18:30)
Deliberate mistake: When Red is shooting at Crews and Crews forces him off the road, the driver's front tire blows on Red's truck. You see it happen and see the blown tire again when he goes off-road. A few seconds later, Red drives away as if there is no problem. (00:58:05)
Continuity mistake: The nose of Crew's truck is bent before he even rams the truck when they attempt to box him in. (00:46:45)
Deliberate mistake: In the scene where the Weigh Station crew inspects the back of the trailer and finds the dog, the guard holding the flashlight moves away at the end, after shining the light on the dog. After he moves away, and before the scene cuts to a new one, the filmmakers show one more quick scene of the dog - but the flashlight is still pointed at him. (00:40:25)
Continuity mistake: When Swayze first arrives at Red's place, there is a shot of them walking down the length of the trailer. You can see that the legs are already up. He would have had to have been already hooked onto the trailer, but in the next scene, he is hooking up to the trailer. (00:18:50)
Plot hole: When Swayze goes through the weigh station, he is told he is exactly 80000 lbs in the US for a tandem tractor/trailer, (which is the legal limit, unless he has a permit, but unlikely to be EXACTLY that weight due to fuel burn, weight of driver, tools, etc) and sent around to have the load inspected. In 11 years of driving I have NEVER had a scalemaster inspect a load inside a dry van. Customs agents do, but not scalemasters. Also, Swayze tells the scalemaster he doesn't know why the pit bull is there, as he just picked up the trailer. That excuse wouldn't fly with an official. Finally, the way the trailer is loaded, the load would shift all over the place, probably not making 100 miles before being destroyed. (00:38:10)
Continuity mistake: In the shot where the Monte Carlo is about to hit the big rig's rear and is about to explode, look very closely at the side of the Monte Carlo when it is about to explode. The Monte Carlo used in this shot has no visible damage on its side and throughout the car (excluding the front cause it's hit in the shot). Looks like they used two Monte Carlo's for this chase scene. (00:28:40)
Factual error: Throughout movie you can see that the trailer is a container on a chassis, yet in the scene crossing the bridge at night there are lights on the top of the container. (01:03:40)
Factual error: When Patrick Swayze's truck was pushing the other truck up the bridge, there was no airflow going over the radiator. Under the enormous stress that the engine was going through (read: heat generation) there's no way it wouldn't have overheated, and quickly. (00:47:05)
Factual error: In the scene where all the trucks gang up on Swayze and there's only one left chasing him down the hill, he throws the engine brake on to make the truck catch up to him faster. If he hadn't been using the engine brake up until that point and was going down that hill at that speed, his brakes would have been hot and smoking, therefore making the brakes almost useless. (00:48:45)
Continuity mistake: When the Peterbilt makes its debut and rolls out of the shop, it has short stacks. In subsequent scenes it has tall stacks.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where the Monte Carlo and the Camaro are battling, right towards the end when the Camaro is sideways in front of the Monte Carlo, the first time the Monte backs off, the shot goes through the windshield of the Monte and you see smoke. But when the smoke starts to clear, you can see Sonny is talking on the radio before the Monte makes contact again. Sonny isn't spoken to on the radio by Cruise till a couple shots later. (00:28:15)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where the Monte Carlo is battling with the Camaro, they go off road into a field. During a certain shot, the Monte Carlo clears the bush with ease. While the Monte Carlo has finished clearing the bush, it cuts back to the Camaro. And in the next shot, if you look closely you can see the side of the Monte Carlo in excellent condition and it remains undamaged in this particular shot. (01:02:30)
Chosen answer: It's an old trucker's myth that has been around for a long time. There's no known origin for the story, but supposedly when truckers become drowsy, they can see a demon-like black canine of some sort running along the side of the road. This legend was incorporated into the movie.
raywest ★