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)
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 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.
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 ★