Why were "convoys" of trucks so discouraged by "bears"?

Question

The song "Convoy" just came up in the music mix, and I was wondering why these men and their "convoy" merited calling out the National Guard to stop them in their race across the midwest..

I figure that the convoy was travelling at speeds greater than the limit, but was it really neccessary to call out the tanks?

Answer 1

They had to make in interesting and so they did.

Answer 2

Eh, it was just a fun song from that time period. CBs were the in thing and someone just wrote a song. Realistically, the National Guard is only called out during a state of emergency.

Answer 3

Well, "good buddy", one reason is that its easy to hide the driver "in the rocking chair" from the "smokey."  When you're "lookin' over your shoulder" and you see those "gumball machines" all lit up it might be because your "rabbit" in a "thunder chicken" is just about to "feed them bears."  So you create a gap for your "rabbit" so he can slide in that "rocking chair" so you can use him again to "block" for you against them "county mounties" "taking pictures" or watching out for the "eye in the sky."

It's always helpful to know their "20" when you feel like "droppin'  the hammer" over that "double-nickel."

Did you "copy", "come back?"  Anyways, this is Whata.crock hopin' you "keep your rubber side down." I'm "10-10 on the side" y'all.

Answer 4

it was a song,but to answer your question,its too hard to pull over more than one truck,they block 1 lane for miles making it impossible to exit from the left lane,making them stop in the left lane so they can get off the highway.i was in one in texas 1 time in the late 90s,there was rumor of a cattle hauler being beat half to death by troopers,so out on the air waves the rumor went,when all was said and done there were estimated to be around 1000 trucks in a line across texas.it was night and was the most beutiful site to see all those lights on the chicken trucks all in a line,they had a helicopter out there also but not really sure if it was the news or police.it was awesome.

Answer 5

Truckdrivers like anyone else are out there in all kinds of weather and diverse conditions , just trying to make a living like everyone else when the Government passed the "55" mph speed limit It created havoc for the independent truckers because of the rising cost of fuel (their trucks had been geared to run effeciently at 75 mph or higher and a new one costs more than a luxury home ) and because in their trade "time actually is money" They carry govt mandated log books which show if they are stopping for rest breaks etc At 55 mph the independant driver would have been forced off the road ecomically because of lost time and the fact that their trucks guzzled more gas at 55 mph than at the 75 mph they were designed to operate at They would band together and with the help of CB radios and form groups which ran over the speed limit as much as possible I've even seen the lead trucker with a mini stop light on his driver's mirror (green for go go go, yellow for caution trooper in area, and red forTrooper Alert 55MPH) which helped out normal non CB carring citizens if willing to run a little faster too It was pure economics The Governer of Wyoming quoting the 55 mph speed limit said at the time "Oh great! You've just made our one six pack state into a two six pack state!"  Why else would they have changed it back to 75 mph? And I just don't recall the National Guard in any state actually ever  being called to duty to slow down any truckers!

Answer 6

The reason the bears didn't like the truck was because the sheriff hated "the duck a.k.a the rubber duck" the reason the National guard was called out was because they all ran the "chicken Coops" aka weigh stations. that is against the law. but all in all it was a personal vendetta. I know way too much about "Convoy" I guess it is because my "pops" was/ is a truck driver.

Answer 7

In the movie, I think one or more of the trucks were hawling beer illegally across state lines. Or was that smokey and the bandit. It's been a long time since I've seen either.

Anyway, it was just a really cool song and it painted a picture. They were kinda like outlaws and a whole bunch is harder to handle than 1 or two at a time.

Truck driver Martin "Rubber Duck" Penwalt (Kristofferson) comes into conflict with Sheriff Lyle "Cottonmouth" Wallace (Borgnine). Rubber Duck and his trucker friends, Pig Pen (Young), Spider Mike (Franklyn Ajaye) and Widow Woman (Madge Sinclair), get into a fight with Wallace and his deputies at a truck stop. After handcuffing Wallace to a barstool, they decide to head for the state line to avoid prosecution. Melissa (MacGraw), a photographer whose car has broken down, agrees to ride with the Rubber Duck, and the pair soon fall in love.

The truckers drive across Arizona and New Mexico, with Wallace in belated pursuit. Additional independent truckers join them to form a mile-long convoy in support of the Rubber Duck's vendetta against the abusive Wallace. The truckers communicate with each other via CB Radio, and much of the jargon associated with the CB craze is sprinkled throughout the film. The trip touches on social empowerment issues of class, race and gender as well as the place of the law in society. As the rebellious truckers run from the police, the Rubber Duck becomes a reluctant folk hero.

It becomes apparent the truckers have a great deal of political support and the Governor of New Mexico, Jerry Haskins (Seymour Cassel), meets Rubber Duck. At about the same time, Wallace and a brutal Texas sheriff arrest Spider Mike, who left the convoy to be with his wife after giving birth to their son. Wallace's plan is to trap Rubber Duck. A janitor at the jail, unaware of the plan, messages by CB radio that Spider Mike has been arrested. Various truckers relay the message to New Mexico.

Rubber Duck ends the meeting with Haskins and leaves to rescue Spider Mike. Several other truckers join him and head east to Texas. The truckers eventually destroy the jail and rescue Spider Mike. Knowing they will now be hunted by the authorities, the truckers head for the border of Mexico.

The film culminates with a showdown near the United States-Mexico border where Rubber Duck is forced to face Wallace and a National Guard unit stationed on a bridge. Firing a machine gun, Wallace and the Guardsmen destroy the truck causing it to plummet from the bridge and crash into the churning river.

Answer 8

that was just written into the song...did you ever see the video???  Truckers like to ride in packs to help watch out for each other....the song really exaggerated that fact