Maximum Overdrive Planet earth has just passed through the tail of a comet, and, in Wilmington, North Carolina, things start to go wrong.
Machines begin to kill people.
Out on the highway, big diesel trucks are smashing into cars. Young honeymooners Connie and Curt flee from the marauding vehicles into the Dixie Boy Truck stop, where they are soon joined by others seeking sanctuary. Hendershot, the Dixie Boy's owner, is giving his short-order cook Bill Robinson a hard time. Bill is on parole from the local penitentiary, and Hendershot is threatening that he will return him to the pen if he doesn't agree to work extra hours 'off the clock'. However, the truck stop also comes under machine attack.