History Main / SpaceTrucker

* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'': In the Netflix revival seasons, the new human protagonist Jonah Heston is introduced piloting a cargo tug which is clearly based on a Freightliner cab-over cargo truck (think G1 Optimus Prime).

* ''Film/DarkStar'' provides the probable UrExample, with Creator/JohnCarpenter and Dan O'Bannon intending to create a {{foil}} to ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' by replacing Humanity's Finest with a bunch of stupid hill-billies InSpace. Dan O'Bannon would go on to re-use this motif in the later ''Alien''

When [[{{Recycled IN SPACE}} space westerns decide to get literal with the genre name]], these guys tend to show up.

Overlaps occasionally with the BoisterousBruiser, GentleGiant, WarriorPoet or other ersatz {{cowboy}}-style archetypes.

In movie and TV show history, the introduction of blue collar workers to mainstream science fiction in the 1970s with ''{{Film/Dark Star}}'' and ''{{Film/Alien}}'' was a big change, as up until then characters on spaceships tended to be highly educated astronauts, engineers, and physicists. Finally, audience members who work with their hands could see themselves reflected in sci fi.

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'': The episode "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession7HeavyMetalQueen Heavy Metal Queen]]" focuses on hunting a wanted space trucker named Decker. Another episode features a group of small-time SpacePirates who make a living by robbing other space truckers.
* ''Literature/DirtyPair'': The last episode of the classic OVA series, "No Need to Listen to the Bad Guys, We are Space Truckers!", has the Lovely Angels go undercover as rookie space truckers to investigate the attacks being made on independent truckers by agents of a MegaCorp.
* ''VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders'': ''Dolores, i' - Main character James Linx runs a cargo ship around the Sol system. He copes with the boredom of weeks-long journeys with beer and reading.
* ''Anime/SpaceDandy'': In one AlternateUniverse, Dandy is a WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo {{Expy}} and the ''Aloha Oe'' is his truck. QT and Meow are there too, the former being a green CyberCyclops and the latter being a {{fanservice}}-laden CatGirl with LarynxDissonance.

* ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD''[='=]s ''Ace Trucking Co.'' series.
* While less of a trucker and more of a taxi driver, Creator/DCComics has Space Cabbie, who has been shown transporting and imparting wisdom to everyone from ComicBook/AdamStrange to Ultra, the Multi-Alien.
* The mostly-forgotten (for good reason) Marvel hero Razorback had the mutant power to drive any vehicle seemingly by instinct. He happily moves up from semis to FTL spacecraft.
* The 2010 ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'' mini-series includes the character U.S. Ace, whose [[SpaceX Space]] 18-Wheeler (it looks like a semi-truck with rocket boosters) is the fastest ship in the galaxy, and therefore the chosen ship for Comicbook/TheAvengers to use to get to the center of the universe. (U.S. Ace is a non-trademarked version of U.S. 1, a character Marvel created in the '80s for a licensed comic to promote a toy truck line. In the '80s comics his truck was "merely" tricked out a la Franchise/JamesBond, until he moved to space in the last issue.)

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Diana's revolutionary pirate crew starts hitting the local equivalent of trucking routes through the boarder security planets of the Sangtee Empire since the truckers are transporting slaves. They pretty much give up without a fight, even if they aren't happy Diana steals most of their ships, which causes the empire to have them escorted by fighters.

[[folder:Film]]
* The crew of the ''Nostromo'' in ''Film/{{Alien}}''. The cargo they are hauling is a huge oil refinery, and they haul it behind their spaceship like a tractor trailer does with its cargo.
* The crew of the ''Betty'' in ''Film/AlienResurrection''. They are the creation of Creator/JossWhedon, maker of SpiritualSuccessor ''{{Series/Firefly}}''.
* ''Film/DarkStar'' provides the probable UrExample, with Creator/JohnCarpenter and Dan O'Bannon intending to create a {{foil}} to ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' by replacing Humanity's Finest with a bunch of stupid hill-billies InSpace. Dan O'Bannon would go on to re-use this motif in the later ''Alien''
* ''Film/SpaceTruckers''. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin You don't say]]. Right down to the spaceship looking like a Mack truck.
* ''Film/BattleBeyondTheStars'': Space Cowboy is a character like this, down to his broken-down cargo ship with a Confederate flag on the hull. He even watches old westerns on long hauls, and plays the harmonica. He's delivering a cargo of hand weapons, albeit legally.
* The two stoner aliens in ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal'' are heavily implied to be space truckers (no pun intended). Though any trucker worth their salt would know better than to snort [[FantasticDrug Plutonian Nyborg]] while operating a vehicle.
* For all intents and purposes, Han Solo in [[Film/ANewHope the first Star Wars film]], at least when the audience first meets him. He'd normally have turned down the heroes' request for transport, except he was hard up for cash after having to dump a big cargo of illegal goods. [[GonnaNeedABiggerWarrant Circumstances prevent him from repaying his debt]] which finally comes back to bite him at [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack the end of the second]] and [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi beginning of the third]] films.
* In ''Film/PetticoatPlanet'', Steve Rogers is a space garbage man whose ship crashes on the planet of Puckerbush. He tries to big note himself by claiming to be a commander, but the ladies of Puckerbush soon discover the truth.
* Lone Star in ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'' is a parody of Han Solo. While the obvious joke would be for his spaceship to look like a truck, it actually looks like a Winnebago.

* In John [=DeChancie=]'s ''Skyway'' trilogy, the only widely known form of faster-than-light travel involves driving ''ground vehicles'' along the highway/PortalNetwork {{Precursors}} have built which seems to connect every place in the universe worth visiting. Most races don't even bother building sublight spaceships (though they do get used), and if anybody has actual FTL space drives they're keeping it very quiet, so trade equals truckers. And human truckers tend to be... well, truckers.
* Endemic in ''Literature/TheExpanse'', where jobs to transport water and resources between the outer colonies and Earth/Mars are vital but not very highly regarded. The protagonists (Jim, Naomi, Alex and Amos) begin the series as this, hauling water for a private company between the asteroid belt and Jupiter's moons.

* ''Literature/NationalLampoonsDoon'' replaces ''Literature/{{Dune}}'''s Spacing Guild with the Schlepping Guild, who embody every trucker stereotype and rely on beer, rather than Spice.

* Neelix was this in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' before joining up with the ''Voyager''. He was initially portrayed as a much savvier spacer before going through {{Flanderization}} to become PluckyComicRelief.
* The ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E4TheOutrageousOkona The Outrageous Okona]]" has the LovableRogue variation in Okona. He is also an {{Expy}} for [[Franchise/StarWars Han Solo]], so this is to be expected.
* In ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', 'Boomers' are human space freighter crew. Ensign Mayweather grew up on these freighters and so has more experience on what's 'out there' than the rest of the crew who grew up on an Earth that's still an InsignificantBluePlanet to the rest of the Alpha Quadrant. Due to the long space voyages the boomers have developed their own culture (though not to the level of a ProudMerchantRace) but the advent of faster warp engines threatens that.

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E5WarriorsGate Warriors' Gate]]" features a UsedFuture space freighter with a blue-collar crew who are more interested in getting their bonuses than doing their job -- [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters said job being slavers]].

* Mojo Nixon has "[=UFOs=], Big Rigs, & BBQ." Apparently [=UFOs=] are driven by long-haul truckers.

* The roleplaying game ''Bulldogs!'' has the player characters as delivery messengers in the vein of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''--with the "expendable employees" BlackComedy exaggerated.
* The ''TabletopGame/{{Starfinder}}'' adventure path "''TabletopGame/{{Fly Free Or Die|Starfinder}}" starts with the player characters operating a light freighter for [[MegaCorp EJCorp]], before going independent in a rather [[GrandTheftPrototype dramatic]] fashion.
* In Spectrum Game's ''Retrostar'', one of the sample settings/shows is Galactic Run. Where the players are space truckers staying one step ahead of the law. (Similar to''TabletopGame/CartoonActionHour'', ''Retrostar'' is a genre emulation game where players create and star in a fictional 70's science-fiction tv show. Like the original ''Battlestar Galactica'' or ''Space 1999''.)

* ''VideoGame/{{Elite}}'', its sequels and the many, many games that followed its example start from a basic premise of "A SpaceTrucker Is You". Over time, the concept expanded to the point where the player has the option of becoming a [[HiredGuns mercenary and/or bounty hunter]], an AsteroidMiner, a BoldExplorer or a SpacePirate. Some games cross over into AnEntrepreneurIsYou and allow players to buy real estate and hire NPC ships and pilots.
* ''VideoGame/{{Iconoclasts}}'' might have the most triumphant variant of this in video game history; a birdlike space trucker is [[spoiler: the FinalBoss. AND a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere, too! His full name is Lucas Birbasaurus Rex, [[WordOfGod apparently]], and he's driving the Starworm that the people worship as a god. He's played as a kind of MirrorMatch of [[TheHero Robin]], using a [[WrenchWhack wrench]] just like she does.]]
* The ''[[Videogame/{{X}} X-Universe]]'' series allows the player to take up the role of a freelance trader, along with the thousands of AI traders. Most TS (Transport, small) class ships have modular cargo sections like a freight train. Several of them have elements of modern trucks - The Argon Mercury has a sun visor and a cockpit reminiscent of a Mack truck. Others resemble oceangoing cargo ships, with containers being the bulk of their mass and the cockpit protruding slightly above them roughly 2/3rds of the way from the front, like a ship's bridge.
** TL (Transport, large) ships, however, don't reference pre-space age designs and consist basically of a single humongous container with engines attached. Justified as they need to carry very bulky goods like space station assembly kits.
* While ''Franchise/StarCraft'' was already established as being the DeepSouth JustForFun/RecycledInSPACE, ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' takes it even further, with all the music being country, the [=SCVs=] being truckers, and advertisements for "Bubba's Gas and Grits", a restaurant with an actual space truck on it.

* On the CD-ROM game, ''[[VideoGame/{{Loadstar}} Loadstar: The Legend Of Tully Bodine]]'', you play the titular space trucker as he runs through the maglev trenches of the Moon ferrying an illegal cargo that must be taken to Mars. The game itself is a RailShooter with {{Live Action Cutscene}}s.
* This will be one of the possible occupations in ''VideoGame/StarCitizen''[='=]s MMO-style persistent universe.
* ''VideoGame/RebelGalaxy'' combines the same sort of space trading simulator as the above games with a rusted UsedFuture aesthetic and soundtrack full of country music.
* You can buy freighters and capital ships in ''VideoGame/NoMansSky'' and make money from trade routes between different systems, buying low in systems that produce X and selling high in systems that consume X.
* ''VideoGame/{{Starfield}}'' pays homage to the space trucker aesthetic. Shipmaker [=HopeTech's=] entire premise is producing inexpensive, utilitarian cargo ships for blue collar haulers and its headquarters resembles a truck stop; there are multiple pieces of trucker-themed apparel, including a "Space Trucker Spacesuit" and an outfit with a red-and-black flannel shirt; and the player can choose "Long Hauler" as a character background during character creation.

* ''Webcomic/NipAndTuck'''s ShowWithinAShow (movie within a comic?) "Rebel Cry" was based around a space trucker with a bone to pick with the [[TheEmpire Evil Empire]].

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' has a space trucker convoy. Their role in the story was basically just to throw cat calls at Leela.
** The main characters themselves work for a delivery company, making them non-stereotypical truckers in Space.
* The Planet Jackers from ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' are quite reminiscent of long haul truckers.
* The Vreedle Brothers from ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' and beyond talk and dress like stereotypical truckers; even their spaceship looks like a truck.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/{{Allegiance}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Space_Truckers_BCKG_8295.PNG]]]]

* On the 3DO game ''Loadstar: The Legend Of Tully Bodine'', you play the titular space trucker as he runs through the maglev trenches of the Moon ferrying an illegal cargo that must be taken to Mars. The game itself is a RailShooter with {{Live Action Cutscene}}s.

** The crew of the ''Betty'' in ''Film/AlienResurrection'' has shades of this trope, as well; they are the creation of Creator/JossWhedon, maker of SpiritualSuccessor ''{{Series/Firefly}}''.

* While ''[=StarCraft=]'' was established as being the DeepSouth InSpace, ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' takes it even further, with all the music being country, the [=SCVs=] being truckers, and advertisements for "Bubba's Gas and Grits", a restaurant with an actual space truck on it.

* In ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', 'Boomers' are human space freighter crew. Ensign Mayweather grew up on these freighters and so has more experience on what's 'out there' than the rest of the crew who grew up on an Earth that's still an InsignificantBluePlanet to the rest of the Alpha Quadrant. Due to the long space voyages the boomers have developed their own culture (through not to the level of a ProudMerchantRace) but the advent of faster warp engines threatens that.

* In ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', 'Boomers' are human space freighter crew. Ensign Mayweather grew up on these freighters and so has more experience on what's 'out there' than the rest of the crew who grew up on an Earth that's still an InsignificantBluePlanet to the rest of the Alpha Quadrant. Thanks to the long space journey's the boomers have developed their own culture (through not to the level of a ProudMerchantRace) but the advent of faster warp engines threatens that.

* In ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', 'Boomers' are human space freighter crew. Ensign Mayweather grew up on these freighters and so has more experience on what's 'out there' than the rest of the crew who grew up on an Earth that's still an InsignificantBluePlanet to the rest of the Alpha Quadrant.