Books Front Lines and Frontiers Making Cargo Hauling Exciting: The Big Lifters by Dean Ing Cutting-edge trains, trucks, and dirigibles — plus conspiracies, lasers, and explosions! By Alan Brown | Published on February 3, 2026 Comment 1 Share New Share In this bi-weekly series reviewing classic science fiction and fantasy books, Alan Brown looks at the front lines and frontiers of the field; books about soldiers and spacers, scientists and engineers, explorers and adventurers. Stories full of what Shakespeare used to refer to as “alarums and excursions”: battles, chases, clashes, and the stuff of excitement. Today, I’m taking a look at a good old-fashioned science fiction book, The Big Lifters by Dean Ing, which is about an inventor pushing innovation in the world of cargo hauling to the edge of what’s possible. Just in case cargo isn’t your thing, Ing also throws in plenty of pushback from threatened transportation organizations and terrorist attacks to keep the pot boiling and make sure your attention doesn’t wander, I found this Tor paperback from 1988 on a shelf in my basement, with the unbroken spine signaling that it had never been read. As I plumb deeper and deeper into my collection of books, I am finding a lot that got put on my to-be-read pile and then forgotten. The Big Lifters has a nice, impressionistic cover painting and interior drawings by Alan McKnight, an artist I had not encountered before or since. The book feels old-fashioned in two ways: first, because it hearkens back to the old tales of inventors who succeed in a wide variety of fields, a type of story once known as “Edisonades,” after the famous inventor. Examples include the adventures of Frank Reade from the era of dime novels, and the Stratemeyer Syndicate’s novels about boy inventor Tom Swift. And this focus on science is something I miss in modern science fiction. Too few stories have the sense of excitement that comes from pushing the state of the art, and doing things that have never been done before. The book also feels old-fashioned in the sense that its prose and plotting were a bit lurid and over-the-top at times, in a way that reminded me of the old 20th-century men’s adventure magazines, periodicals like Argosy and True. When I was a Boy Scout, we used to have an annual paper drive, and as we collected bundles of newspapers, we were always on the lookout for discarded magazines of the type our parents wouldn’t approve. The men’s magazines, dripping with testosterone, and full of muscle-bound guys toting tommy guns, scantily clad damsels in distress, and menacing Nazis and Commies, were among the prized finds. While I was fascinated by these tales when I was young, I am glad we have left some of these old adventure magazine clichés behind. About the Author Dean Ing (1931-2020) was an American science fiction author, whose work drew on his experience in the US Air Force and on his careers as an aerospace engineer and as a college professor. His first story was published in 1955, although his most prolific period did not start until the 1970s. Ing ended up writing more than thirty novels during his career. His most successful work was in the techno-thriller genre, with his book The Ransom of Black Stealth One reaching The New York Times Best Seller list in 1989. His other work focused on high technology, survivalism, the military, and post-apocalyptic themes. He did a lot of work in the 1980s completing outlines and other works left unfinished by the late Mack Reynolds. Ing was a member of the self-appointed Citizens’ Advisory Council on National Space Policy, a space advocacy group that met in the 1980s and 1990s, focused on issues like single-stage-to-orbit launch systems and space-based missile defense systems, and which included many science fiction authors, including Jerry Pournelle, Greg Benford, and Larry Niven. The Exciting World of Cargo Hauling I’ll admit, the ins and outs of transportation have always fascinated me, ever since I first read Scuffy the Tugboat as a child and the bustling seaport that terrified the toy tugboat caught my imagination. While it may not seem particularly thrilling or glamorous to the casual reader, the latter half of the 20th century saw the world of trade and commerce go through a transformation. The change was driven by new procedures and technologies used in intermodal cargo handling—something I saw firsthand as a young Coast Guard reserve officer assigned to the Captain of the Port in Baltimore, Maryland during the 1980s. The development of standardized cargo containers increased the efficiency of cargo handling, preventing the need for cargo to be unloaded at ports of entry. New customs procedures facilitated these methods, with containers being sealed at their point of origin, and not opened and inspected until reaching their final destination. This significantly decreased the labor required to load and unload ships at seaports, and as a side benefit, cut down on pilferage. Ships got larger and more efficient, although this could be a mixed blessing as minimal crews and a lack of redundant systems made them more vulnerable to accidents. At the same time, other modes of transportation were going through similar evolutions. Railroads shifted from boxcars to flatbeds carrying standardized cargo containers, and even figured out ways to stack the containers on top of each other. FedEx, with their innovative “spoke and hub” system, was revolutionizing air shipping, and cutting delivery times dramatically. On the highways, truckers were also hauling standardized containers, and even pulling multiple trailers. The computer revolution facilitated this transformation, making it possible to order products efficiently, to track and manage cargos in ways not previously possible, and manage commerce right down to the delivery of single packages to the consumer at their home. Additionally, intermodal companies that managed cargo throughout its movement made the process even more efficient. While it has taken longer than some thought it would, space transportation is also seeing the beginning of a revolution, with private company launch systems outperforming governments and more traditional institutions, with reusable launch systems cutting costs, and with more countries, and even private companies, entering what used to be the exclusive club of space-faring organizations. One area where innovation has not made as much progress is in the field of lighter-than-air transport. I had the opportunity to fly on a Goodyear Blimp when the Coast Guard was evaluating the craft for surveillance duties, and even sit at the helm of one for a few minutes, and saw that these craft, while amazing to ride, were at the mercy of the wind, and difficult to handle in all but the most benign conditions. And having been hoisted in and out of a few helicopters over the years, I know that using any airborne platform to lift people and cargo is a difficult enterprise that requires the highest level of skill from the pilots and crews. The Big Lifters The book opens from the viewpoint of a long-haul trucker who is speeding to make up time with a load of heavy pipes. His tractor-trailer and load are described in extensive detail, a tactic Ing uses throughout the book in order to ground his tale in the real world. Then the viewpoint shifts to young John Wesley Peel, riding in a VW minivan with his grandmother, who took him in after his parents died in a trucking accident. Those viewpoints converge when the trucker swerves to avoid an antelope, his load comes free, the minivan is crushed, and the grievously injured John finds himself trapped, his face pushed up against the crushed face of his dead grandmother. With that gruesome image in their minds, readers are then introduced to Joseph Weatherby and the board of the National Transport Coalition, or NTC, discussing the disruptions the now-adult Peel is bringing to their industry. Weatherby is against making any attacks on Peel himself, but is willing to turn a blind eye if subordinates attempt to sabotage Peel’s factory or products. The perspective then shifts to Hassan Winthorp, a college professor who works for a Shiite terrorist group, helping them pick targets for murder by suicide bomber. He picks people who are in positions to increase the strength and power of the United States, whether through industry, politics, or public opinion. And one of those people is Peel. With these various threats being introduced and established, the narrative finally moves on to Peel himself (or Wes, as he now is known). And in true men’s adventure fashion, he is described as being dressed for comfort and action, having wide shoulders that strain his shirt and a flat belly, in spite of drinking too much Scotch; a true manly man of action. Wes is involved in just about every mode and method of handling cargo, driven by his traumatic accident to make the processes safer and more efficient. The only thing he is not interested in is space transportation, wanting to focus his efforts here on Earth. He is discussing one of the projects his company is working on—a magnetic levitation (maglev) train that uses powerful superconducting magnets. There are issues with a canard wing that helps keep the train stay in position as it floats above its track. We then meet Evangeline, or Vangie, Broussard, Wes’ executive assistant. She is described as having beautiful dark skin and hair, and dressing in a conservative manner. But just as you think the character might escape being objectified, the reader is assured that everyone speculates how good she looks underneath those conservative clothes. Wes meets Glenn Rogan, a test pilot who will assist with one of their other projects, a giant delta-shaped cargo-lifting dirigible. You can tell Glenn is going to be a main character, because he is described as having a solid muscular belly and sinewy forearms. Wes shows Glenn one of his other projects, a small tractor rig designed to haul trailers on secondary roads where the power of a full-sized highway tractor is not required. Suddenly a tractor-trailer rig gets loose without a driver (unknown to everyone, it’s because of NTC sabotage), and careens toward a building filled with people. Wes uses one of the small tractors to divert the rig, saving everyone. Wes then shows Glenn Delta One, their high-tech dirigible, and Glenn falls in love. Speaking of love, later on Wes and Vangie begin to flirt, because why would there be a female character in a men’s adventure if she wasn’t going to be someone’s love interest? They test Delta One by lifting cargo containers on and off a train. And then they test it by lifting containers on and off a moving train, proving they can transfer cargo without needing to stop to unload. I thought this was pretty preposterous, but then realized that when it came to technology, Ing wasn’t interested in what was feasible and practical; he was interested in what was possible. And these passages, where the engineers are testing new vehicles and technology, are the parts of the book I enjoyed the best. We move on to an interlude where the Shiite terrorists take out a target, and are reminded that Wes is getting closer to the top of their list. Then it’s back to science experiments: There is a launch system in Arizona that uses high-powered lasers to heat reaction mass like hydrogen in rocket nozzles, eliminating the need for chemical reactions. They use this laser system to heat engines on the belly of Delta One, and push her high enough to fly over the Rocky Mountains. The test is a success, although they have used magnesium struts near their engines, and one is ignited by the laser. Magnesium gets very, very hot when it burns, which almost creates a catastrophe. Behind the scenes, unknown to Wes, his team has a hidden project going on behind the scenes, which is concealed behind their efforts to build a canard on the maglev train. Unlike him, they are interested in space travel, and have come up with a rather wild plan to use a combination of the maglev and that laser launch system to launch a small commercial spaceplane into orbit. Ing is juggling a lot of balls in the air as the story jumps from viewpoint to viewpoint, but all of the threads eventually come together. Before the end of the book, Wes and his companions will work to develop all sorts of revolutionary technologies (doing their best not to kill themselves along the way), try to come to terms with the hostile NTC, and foil the fundamentalist terror attacks. In the meantime, Wes and Vangie will find that the road to love is not always a straight one. Because of the episodic nature of the plot, the sometimes-purple prose, and the men’s adventure clichés, I found the book a bit difficult in the beginning. But by the end, I found myself being swept up by all the action, and actually enjoyed the ride. Final Thoughts The Big Lifters is not a perfect book. It is a bit formulaic, and many of the characters tend toward being clichés. But Ing knows his technology, has done his homework, and in the sections where the team is testing new vehicles and systems, the author’s enthusiasm is contagious. The old-fashioned men’s adventure plots may not be the literary equivalent of a nutritious meal, but they can be a satisfying kind of snack food. Now I turn the floor over to you, especially if you have read The Big Lifters, or other works by Dean Ing—and if there are other entertaining science fiction books about hauling cargo, I’d love to hear about them.[end-mark] The post Making Cargo Hauling Exciting: <i>The Big Lifters</i> by Dean Ing appeared first on Reactor.