# "Convoy". What the Hell? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 24, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508 "2014-06-24T03:12:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/61 "2014-06-25T01:16:54Z")
I was in West Texas when the movie came out. It’s no secret on the Board how much I despise Texas, but even I cringed at the part where the black trucker veered away from the safety of the convoy up in the Panhandle, and the Kris Kristofferson character knowingly said something about it being bad territory for black truckers. It was no such thing. Then the trucker got himself arrested, presumably for being black, and the other truckers had to smash down the jail to rescue him. That was all just too much. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/62 "2014-06-25T01:25:09Z")
Appreciations, **Kevbo**. Just proves there’s no phenomenon so low-brow that someone on the board can’t tease the geekery out from. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/63 "2014-06-25T05:56:27Z")
For the record, there is no ‘cloverleaf’ in Tulsa. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/64 "2014-06-25T13:35:17Z")
> [@CheshireKat](#): > > My dad was in the middle of his midlife crisis during this time. He had a silver Corvette with a CB radio and his handle was Silver Fox. > > I remember it as the year I fell in love with Peterbilts. 😃 Don’t forget the other songs that tried to cash in: [Larry Heaberlin - I’m Going Back To Nashville To Get My Peterbilt](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0dZWc7_atw) ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/65 "2014-06-25T13:45:25Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > Don’t forget the other songs that tried to cash in: > [Larry Heaberlin - I’m Going Back To Nashville To Get My Peterbilt](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0dZWc7_atw) 😃 Loved the guitar pickin’, and the term Sugar Booger. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/66 "2014-06-25T14:30:30Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > I mean, it’s a story song, but the story it tells makes no sense at all. A bunch of truckers join up to break traffic laws and ram toll gates? How in the hell would that work? Even without all the surveillance cameras that law enforcement has now as opposed to back then, the minute these truckers stopped at their destinations to unload, they would all be surrounded and arrested. And fired. And blacklisted from the industry. Maybe I’m over thinking this little novelty song (and movie), but at about the point it became ‘a great big convoy’ it was no longer about getting loads where they were supposed to go, it became a protest. They were protesting the double-nickel speed limit and corrupt cops (who like to ‘bust truckers just for fun’, especially Dirty Lyle). If I recall, the idea was to head for Washington, DC and protest, (I suspect that’s how Pigpen wound up in Omaha) much like the farm strike of the '80’s. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/67 "2014-06-25T14:31:31Z")
> [@CheshireKat](#): > > I remember it as the year I fell in love with Peterbilts. 😃 Old truckers never die, they just get a new Peterbilt. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/68 "2014-06-26T00:39:28Z")
> [@seal\_cleaner](#): > > Tell me you didn’t tear up when your heard _Teddy Bear._😉 Look, watch “Ole Yeller”, “Brian’s Song” and then listen to “Old Shep” before you listen to “Teddy Bear”. That way, TB won’t make you tear up. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/69 "2014-06-26T03:12:15Z")
The military is testing [robotic convoys from General Dynamics,](http://www.gdrs.com/robotics/capabilities/convoys.asp) and the technology has been [demoed for civilian use](http://www.popsci.com/article/cars/robot-truck-convoy-tested-nevada). ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/70 "2014-06-26T03:41:30Z")
It seems I’m the only one in this thread so far who’s actually been a truck driver and I became a trucker the year after Convoy was released. Let me tell you something, the truckers made so much fun of all the armchair/4-wheeler CB folks. They changed common phrases to mean something completely different and reflected on the person saying it. For instance, the famous “Good buddy” automatically meant “I’m a homosexual” and smirks would ensue. Yeah, it was bigoted, but it wasn’t really meant as being _against_ homosexuals, just those who would use that phrase. Fine line, yeah, but it was funny. Most truckers I came across weren’t really assholes about it, they were funnin’ around. I never came across anyone who liked the song or movie Convoy. Not that they didn’t, I just never heard anyone mention it. Most I knew did like **Smokey and the Bandit** , as did I, but not specifically because of the trucking, but because it was a funny movie, and starred an adorable Sally Field. Everyone liked the dog. Regarding the movie rather than the song, people forget or don’t know that [Convoy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077369/reference) was directed by [Sam Peckinpah](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001603/reference) and was his second to last movie. In his relatively short but bright feature career he directed: The Wild Bunch (1969) The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) Straw Dogs (1971) Junior Bonner (1972) (I saw this being filmed) The Getaway (1972) (I love this movie) Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) The Killer Elite (1975) Cross of Iron (1977) Convoy (1978) The Osterman Weekend (1983) I’ve never seen it myself, and I’m sorry I missed it when the Chicago Cinema Society showed it a couple of years back. According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convoy_%281978_film%29), “Peckinpah’s original cut of Convoy was around three and a half hours long.” It was taken away from him and recut for release. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/71 "2014-06-26T03:56:14Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > starred an adorable Sally Field. Everyone liked the dog. > > . Well, I thought she was pretty cute. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/72 "2014-06-26T04:18:52Z")
If we’re going to make fun of the 70’s, let’s not forget [Junk Food Junkie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQnIL-XPerQ&feature=kp). ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/73 "2014-06-26T04:27:02Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > The ability to flirt and troll anonymously with virtually no risk of being found out was. was a very new thing. It would be a decade or so before it was possible online. The use of online pseudonyms likely has it’s roots tied to CB handles. Not sure if it was AOL, Compuserve or Prodigy, actually I am thinking it was AOL, they had the CB simulator, basically an internal IRC channel for online members. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/74 "2014-06-26T04:33:26Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > For the record, there is no ‘cloverleaf’ in Tulsa. Er, [what](https://www.google.com/maps/@36.0882272,-96.0069862,16z)? One of the roads is I-44, which is what the next verse mentions. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/75 "2014-06-26T06:09:46Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > For the record, there is no ‘cloverleaf’ in Tulsa. > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Er, [what](https://www.google.com/maps/@36.0882272,-96.0069862,16z)? One of the roads is I-44, which is what the next verse mentions. Yup. It’s the interchange at Highway 75 and I-44. There’s definitely a cloverleaf and it’s definitely in Tulsa. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/76 "2014-06-26T13:36:10Z")
That road to Okmulgee is one of the rougher ones in OK. Bleah. Another rough one is the tollway from Tulsa to Muskogee. At least Muskogee to McAlester has a lake. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/77 "2014-06-26T14:25:50Z")
> [@susan](#): > > If we’re going to make fun of the 70’s, let’s not forget [Junk Food Junkie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQnIL-XPerQ&feature=kp). I have that on a 45. Also have it in iTunes. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/78 "2014-06-26T14:50:53Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > … and this was the same culture that elected Jimmy Carter president… :smack: It wasn’t out of stupidity. We were rejecting the corruption of the Nixon years, and Ford embodied that. The Dems could have nominated Mickey Mouse and he would have won. Convoy resonated with radio listeners because it was different, wasn’t disco, sounded cool, and introduced as to an intriguing lexicon. With no internet back in them days, we had to ask around to find out what those words meant. Truckers became the keepers of the arcane, and we all wanted inside knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/79 "2014-06-26T14:53:04Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508/80 "2014-06-26T15:28:57Z")
Even **Cecil** once slipped into CB-speak, writing on [September 10, 1976](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2/can-a-90-lb-chimp-clobber-a-full-grown-man) that “the word on keeping chimps as pets is a big negatory”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convoy-what-the-hell/691508.md?page=5)