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Convoy
In the Arizona desert, truck driver Martin "Rubber Duck" Penwald is passed by a woman in a Jaguar XK-E, escapes being given a citation by the Arizona Highway Patrol thanks to the Jaguar, then runs into fellow truck drivers Pig Pen/Love Machine and Spider Mike. Another "trucker" had informed them over the CB radio that they are okay to increase their speed. The "trucker" turns out to be Sheriff "Dirty" Lyle Wallace, a long-time nemesis of the Duck, who extorts them for $70 each.
The truckers head on to Rafael's Glide-In where the Duck's sometime girlfriend, Violet, works as a waitress. Melissa, the driver of the Jaguar, is also there; her car broke down and she had to sell it and some of her belongings in an effort to reach Dallas, as she is on her way to look for a job. The Duck offers Melissa a ride; Violet is unimpressed and ushers him away to give him a special birthday present. While they are away, Wallace shows up at the Glide-In checking plates. Pig Pen and Spider Mike start making fun of Wallace over the diner's base-station CB radio, leading to Wallace attempting to falsely arrest Spider Mike for vagrancy. The Duck enters and tries to smooth things over, but Mike punches Wallace when he makes a crack about the father of the baby that Mike's pregnant woman is expecting. This leads to a brawl in the diner when some AHP state troopers arrive to assist Wallace. The assorted truckers prevail and decide to head for the state line to avoid prosecution while messing with the police cars while the cops are knocked out.
The truckers drive across Arizona and New Mexico, with Wallace in pursuit. Duck angers Wallace even further when he accidentally pushes him off the road and causes him to crash. When Wallace calls for reinforcements from the state police, Duck leads the truckers off the main highway and down a rough dusty desert trail, causing several of the police cars to crash, while Wallace's state police vehicle is crushed between Pig Pen and Spider Mike's rigs. As the rebellious truckers evade and confront the police, Rubber Duck becomes a reluctant hero.
The Governor of New Mexico, Jerry Haskins, meets Rubber Duck at his request, after being told that the Governor has ideas of using the National Guard on the convoy after Rubber Duck and his convoy manage to avoid a New Mexico State Police roadblock and then get their escort through town due to Rubber Duck carrying hazardous materials. About the same time, Wallace and a brutal Texas sheriff arrest Spider Mike (who had left the convoy to be with his wife after she gave birth to their son) in Alvarez, Texas. Wallace's plan is to use Mike as bait to trap Rubber Duck. A janitor at the jail, aware of the plan, sends messages by CB radio that Spider Mike has been wrongfully arrested and beaten. 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 in heading east to Texas. The truckers eventually destroy half of the town and the jail and rescue Spider Mike. Knowing they will now be hunted by the authorities, the truckers head for the border of Mexico. On the way, Rubber Duck gets separated from the rest of the convoy when the others get stopped by a minor traffic accident involving Pig Pen/Love Machine. In a showdown near the United States-Mexico border, Rubber Duck is forced to face Wallace, the Texas Highway Patrol, and a National Guard unit stationed on a bridge. Firing an M60 machine gun, Wallace, the Texas DPS troopers, and the Guardsmen cause the truck's tanker trailer to explode, while Rubber Duck deliberately steers the tractor unit over the side of the bridge, plummeting into the churning river below, presumably sending Duck to his death. Melissa witnesses this from the shoreline once she realized Duck's intention after he had her get out of his truck and tossed out her luggage as well so she wouldn't be harmed, while Pig Pen/Love Machine and the other members of the convoy blare their horns in mourning. Even Wallace looks remorseful over the demise of his long-time adversary.
A public funeral is held for Rubber Duck. A distraught Melissa is led to a school bus with several "long-haired friends of Jesus" inside that had joined the convoy earlier. There she finds Rubber Duck in disguise sitting in the back - revealing that he had swum from the wreckage after the tractor sank into the river. The convoy takes to the road with the coffin in tow, presumably heading for Washington, D.C.. As the bus passes Wallace, he spots the Duck and bursts into laughter over seeing that his adversary survived.