MovieChat Forums > Smokey and the Bandit (1977) Discussion > 400 cases won't fill a semi trailer.

400 cases won't fill a semi trailer.

posted 10 years ago by SunCanyonRoad
11 replies | jump to latest

A standard case of bottled beer is 16" wide X 24" long X 16" tall.

Semi Trailers come in 48 foot and 53 foot sizes. Both are 110" tall X 100" wide.

48 feet = 576 inches or 144 cases on the floor alone, then stacked 6 high = 864 total cases in the truck.

53 feet = 636 inches or 156 cases on the floor alone, then stacked 6 high = 936 total cases in the truck.

They were only getting 400 cases in the bet, yet it filled the truck full even though regardless of trailer size, it would have only filled it about half way.

Obviously its "movie making" and heck, no way they actually filled the truck, they probably did one row of empty case boxes at the edge of the trailer so it could be seen, but they should have said more just in case someone (like me) wanted to waste the time to see how much beer the truck would actually hold! LOL

"I don't want your watch, man. I want your friendship!" - Lightfoot

[–] gabby_bm 9 years ago

Even so, would you load the truck all the way to the front or would you load all the beer as close to the door as possible?

I don’t need you to tell me how good my coffee is.. 
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[–] SunCanyonRoad 9 years ago

You always load all the way to the front and move back as you fill the trailer and if it doesn't reach the door you use cargo bars to keep your load from toppling over while driving.

"I don't want your watch, man. I want your friendship!" - Lightfoot

[–] gabby_bm 9 years ago

Then where do you put the illegal aliens?

I don’t need you to tell me how good my coffee is.. 
.

[–] krypton_son 9 years ago

Then where do you put the illegal aliens?

You usually try to put them in crates for easier stacking.

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dies ist meine unterschrift

[–] hskerfanlife 9 years ago

I imagine that it was more than 400 cases. It's not like they followed the rules, they broke into the Coors building and after loading the truck Snowman was informed "Leave them a note saying, 'please send the bill to Enos Burdette'"
before pealing off.
I imagine the Bandit pocketed the money he was given for the Coors and appreciated the easy money not having to pay for it.

[–] avortac4 (3744) 3 years ago

The minuscule stack of hundred dollar bills would have been about two thousand dollars at best (the stack should've been _very_ thick to be able to contain enough money), but putting all that aside..

..yes, Bandit was given money for the beer, and yet he suddenly changes the plan to "scribble Big Enos' name on a paper, then throw away the whole notebook and pen (for SOME reason?)", thereby billing the Enos - although he already has the cash for the beer specifically.

This is pretty dirty, greedy and unlawful on his part (breaking a contract is unlawful), and of course after breaking and entering (regardless if you plan to 'pay afterwards', you can't just break and enter without breaking the law), and doing 'bootlegging', he probably doesn't care, so they judging from the character we have been shown, it's more than likely they just filled the whole truck and use or sell the 'extra' beer later for maximum profit.

I mean, if the Enos (Enoses?) are gonna be billed anyway, what does Bandit care if they are billed a bit more than originally planned (would rich people like that even look at some beer bill, realistically speaking?).

So much criminal activity celebrated in this movie..

[–] thisnameinuse 8 years ago

Yes, but see, it's a movie, and not a documentary on proper trucking and roadway shipping.

The point was to have Snowman and Bandit standing on the road, talking as they closed the doors. If they had properly loaded the truck, as you described, then it would have looked from that angle like the truck was empty.

So instead, they packed the boxes back by the doors. Because that's what the shot required. A bunch of visually noticeable Coors boxes packed in the back of the truck, looking like they'd just loaded 400 cases.

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SKYBIRD, this is DROPKICK with a RED DASH ALPHA message in two parts. BREAK. BREAK.

[–] avortac4 (3744) 3 years ago

".., it's a movie, and not a documentary"

Where is it written that movies HAVE TO BE as nonsensical on all possible levels as possible, so immersion and proper entertainment just can't ever happen?

It'd be more interesting to watch a movie that's realistic in these little details, so you'd feel more invested.

If 'anything goes' just because it's a movie, there's no immersion, there's no entertainment, and you feel like you're just watching some cartoon where anything can happen, so stakes are so low they don't exist, and there is absolutely no tension.

When you watch a cartoon, you know nothing signifigant is gonna happen, so there's never going to be tension. The coyote never dies, Sylvester or Tom never get permanently injured, so there's no tension.

[–] robocop-37224 9 years ago

Jesus Christ another one with nothing better to do. ITS A GODD AMN M O V I E!

[–] wnel47 8 years ago

But like magic they did...it

[–] rp0383 8 years ago

Ha ha, in the scene where they first open the warehouse, and Jerry Reed falls into the boxes, you can see that many of them are simply empty boxes. Maybe they loaded box after box until they had 400 cases of actual beer ha ha!