The "Second Unit" Rubber Duck Truck and Trailer

The "Second Unit" Rubber Duck Truck is a 1970 Mack RS731LST that was originally purchased by EMI Films for use as the on-screen highway double for the Rubber Duck.   After filming was complete, Fred Bruhn purchased the truck and much of the EMI-owned Convoy vehicle cache in exchange for signing back over the checks he received for renting some of his trucks to EMI for the film.   The truck and trailer were purchased by Dan Bruno and brought to Missouri in 2007 to be rebuilt and restored.   In 2015, the truck and trailer were sold to Anthony Fox of Rome, GA.  Dan purchased the truck and trailer back from Anthony in late 2022.  The truck and trailer have resumed being on display at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, MO when not being used for other shows or events.

 The truck was originally powered by a Cummins NH220, thus the "731" designation in the model number.  At the time of filming, the truck featured an updated Cummins NTC335 Small Cam and Fuller RTO9513 13 speed transmission..  Today, the truck features a fresh NTC400 Big Cam III CPL625 back by an RTLO14610B 10 speed transmission.  It has Rockwell SQHD rear axles with 4.11 gear ration on a very rare White "Velvet Ride" suspension.  This is purportedly the suspension that was on the truck during filming, although it had been separated from the chassis after filming.  Mack's factory sales and service branch in Albuquerque swapped the suspension into the chassis in preparation for filming to match the "Budd" wheel arrangement of the purpose-built 1977 Mack RS712LST used in the film.   The suspension had been removed and set aside by Bruhn after filming when the truck was converted to a transit mix truck for their family materials business.

The "Second Unit" tank trailer is a 1960 Trailmobile asphalt tank trailer that was built as part of a fleet order for a specific company.   The trailer was hollowed-out by production prop crews in preparation for the bridge scene filmed in Needles, California in August 1977.   The exterior aluminum skin is held in-place by a clever web of small angle iron.  The trailer retains a steel sub frame, but the unit remains extremely light.  This trailer was prepped for use to film a second run across the bridge, but ultimately was not able to be destroyed as more filming needed to be completed later that year and no other trailer was available.