The biomechanical warriors were designed by Japanese illustrator Hajime Sorayama, known for his precisely detailed, erotic hand painted portrayals of women and feminine robots.
Director Stuart Gordon had the idea of truckers in space for years. After the international success of his last film, Fortress, Gordon was able to get a budget of 25 million dollars from the profits of that film. Gordon also met with an Irish producer convincing him to film the movie in Wicklow, due to tax breaks.
Due to the trouble of finding a U.S. distributor, the film was never released theatrically in the US. It premiered on HBO instead.
Stephen Dorff's agent didn't like the title "Space Truckers", so throughout shooting, the title was "Untitled Irish Space Movie". When filming wrapped, Stuart Gordon asked Stephen Dorff what the title of this movie should be. Dorff suggested "Space Trucker". So the film was re-titled "Space Truckers" again.
Former "National Lampoon" editor Ted Mann, who scripted this science-fiction comedy, calls it "The first outer space road movie." According to Mann, the film has "no scientists, no techies, none of the unusual polished, sanitary environments we're used to in our space films. Space is like anywhere else - the people who are there are underpaid and poorly regarded."