alligator - a piece of tire in road. looks like an alligator sunning itself across the road.
alligator radio/station - a radio that can transmit well, but receives poor - the radio is like an alligator in that it is "all mouth and no ears".
aardvark - a Kenworth T-600 (also known as an anteater).
back door - behind you or to the rear ("you got a bear about a mile back on your back door")
back out - I have finished talking and will now unkey. ("this is Diver and I'm back out")
back quiet - I have finished my transmission and you may proceed when ready
Bambi - a deer, whether dead or alive. (Related: swamp donkey - a moose)
bear - generic term for a law enforcement officer
- Smokey, a county or state cop
- countie mountie, sheriff's deputy
- She Bear, a female cop. - city kitty, female city police
- Evil Kenivel - a motorcycle cop
- diesel cop/D.O.T. man, D.M.V. enforcement (these guys pull four wheelers too!)
bear in the air - a police airplane that monitors highway speeds below
bedbuggers - moving companies
better half - your spouse, ie. your wife/husband.
big road - a major highway (I40,I85,I95, etc.)
big truck - an 18 wheeler. More specifically, a long nose - cab over - all dudded up diesel truck.
bird dog - a radar detector
bobtail - a cab with no trailer attached.
boogie - top gear. "I've got 'er up into boogie now."
brake check - traffic that is slowing down. It seems that four wheelers will hit their brakes and slow down in the middle of the interstate for no apparent reason, other than to make sure that their brakes still work, hence a "brake check".
break - proper way to gain access to a busy channel (i.e. "break 19 for a radio check")
boss man - your immediate superior/supervisor at work
bubba - a not-so-formal version of good neighbor
Bulldog - a Mack truck
bumper sticker - an automobile following you too closely
cash register - a toll booth. "You're coming up on a cash register at yardstick 154."
channel 9 - "emergency channel"
channel 19 - the unofficially official "truckers" channel.
chicken coop - weigh station
chicken lights- extra lights on the truck and trailer
container - shipping container from overseas ( "How about that south bound container. You got a copy?")
cottonpicker - a male bonding term for a friend (positive) - can also be used as a mild insult, the equivalent of "jerk" (derogatory)
covered wagon - a gravel trailer topped with a tarp.
crotch rocket - a motorcycle
dead head - to haul an empty truck. Driving empty means you usually are not getting paid for the trip, you have to drive somewhere to get a load.
destruction - road construction
diesel car - a "real" truck (18 wheeler)
do what - I did not copy/understand your last transmission, could you please repeat it ?
double nickel - means 55, usually in reference to inquiries about the speed limit.
dragon wagon - Tow Truck
driver - refers to the person you were talking to / the radio operator receiving your transmissions.
eighty fifth street - refers to I85
fire in the wire - this means an amplified AM transmission see note 1 (see also foot warmer, side piece)
flat bed - a flat bed truck
flip-flop - a U-turn ("Full blown bear did a flip-flop and is south bound & hammered down"). Can also mean a return trip
FM - am/fm radio ( the term radio by itself refers to the CB )
foot warmer - refers to a linear amplifier (see also side piece, fire in the wire) note 1
forty two - I understand and agree with you. ("Forty-Two, driver, I heard that idea, I did!")
*four wheeler - anyone who is not a trucker (specifically - a car)
front door - in front of you or to the front ("you got a bear about 2 miles on your front door")
gearjammer - a speeding truck driver, one known to accelerate/decelerate quickly.
Georgia Overdrive - neutral gear
go to the Harley - to put your CB on channel 1 (go to double Harley: to turn the CB to channel 11)
*good buddy - a term no longer used unless you are deliberately trying to annoy someone (it now means homosexual)
good neighbor - same as driver the person you are talking with (this has replaced "good buddy")
got your ears on - expression used when looking for someone on the CB
granny lane - the right, slow lane on an interstate
green stamps - money, usually tolls
ground pressure - weight. "The coop is just checking ground presssure; no sweat."
gumball machine - lights on top of a police cruiser. "He's got his gumball machine going."
Related: hit the
jackpot: when police lights are flashing. "Looks like someone hit the jackpot."
hammer lane - left lane of traffic
hammer down - vehicle moving fast ("smokey west bound and hammered down"). Also make a car move fast ("Hammer down driver").
hand - same as driver. ("preeshaydit there hand.") I have no idea where this came from, but truckers call each other things like Hand, or Bubba, or Driver.
handle - your name on the CB radio - kind of a call sign so that others recognize you. i.e. Kevin = "Diver"
happy happy - means happy new year ( "have a great happy happy")
Ho Chi Minh Trail - California Highway 152, heavy traffic, lots of accidents
home twenty - dwelling. In particular, the person talking's house, appartment, condo, etc.
key down - when you try to talk over someone that is transmitting.
Kojak with a Kodak - a police officer with a radar gun
landline - telephone/ telephone call.
linear - a linear amplifier. This is the type of amplifier that is used to amplify an AM transmission.
log book - it's a diary for truckers/one of the things they check at the chicken coops (4 wheelers wouldn't understand)
meatwagon - name for an ambulance.
merry merry - means merry Christmas (" have a wonderful merry merry")
mission - a rush load. "I'm on a mission today"
modulator - a type of amplifier used for AM transmissions
motion lotion - fuel
moving on - means you have quit jabbin' and are now driving (see also stepping on, rolling on)
mud duck - a really weak/poor radio signal
ninety fifth street - I95
parking lot - a truck that is used to transport several cars "piggy back"
pickemup truck - a pick up truck
pickle park - a rest area or roadside park
plain wrapper - term for an unmarked police car....can also use color of car, ie. "blue wrapper" (see also bear).
power up - go fast, step on it
preeshaydit - thank you very much
radio - a CB, ie. "what kind of radio are you talking on?"
radio check - a call to see if your radio is working
rascal - term identifying a person that is known by the speaker ("That rascal owes me money ").
REACT - nation wide group of volunteers who monitor channel 9 for emergency traffic
readin' the mail - just listening to the CB ( not actively talking )
reefer - a refrigerated cargo trailer
right? - what truckers end almost every sentence with (seems we talk in questions). "ROGER" can be substituted here.
roger - means "yes" or "OK"
rollerskate - any small car. Originally a Volkswagen
rolling on - same as steppin' on (not used that much)
salt shaker - a snow plow
sand bagging - to listen in on a channel without talking
scoot - a Harley-Davidson motorcycle
Shakey Side - the West Coast of the US
shoot you in the back/tail pipe/gastank - police operating radar (usually from an exit ramp) as you drive past them
short short - a short amount of time
side piece - also refers to a linear amplifier (see also foot warmer, fire in the wire)
skins - tires
skip - CB (and other short-wave frequencies) tend to be reflected from the atmosphere. These transmissions can be heard many miles from the source of the transmission. This is called "skip"
speed limit - what a four wheeler is constantly unaware of ( besides being oblivious to surrounding traffic). A four wheeler will travel five miles an hour below the posted limit if a state trooper is following them, because it is suddenly extremely important that they obey the law for some reason (they haven't obeyed it before,why start now? )
stagecoach - a tour bus
stand on it - accelerate with a quickness
stepping on - means same as (see also moving on, rolling on)
taking pictures - police operating radar equipment
ten-four - means "OK"/ "YES"
ten-twenty - location
ten-thirty three - emergency
ten-thirty six - call for correct time
thermos bottle - a tanker trailer
travel agent - dispatcher
turkey day - thanksgiving
turn signal - a light on the back of a vehicle which indicates future direction of movement. This is the one piece of equipment that a four wheeler will only use if there is a police officer immediately behind him, otherwise, the four wheelers simply forget they have one ( although they seem to be aware that the cruise control is mounted on the little stick thingy.)
walked on ya - someone keyed up with you and your transmission was unintelligible
whachyathank? - similar to right? when used at the end of the sentence ("I gotta go to work early tomorrow, whatchathank?").
yard - name for the parking lot of a driver's company ("sitting here in the yard, waiting to load up")
yardstick - name for mile marker on major highways
Trucker Cities
The Big A - Atlanta, GA
Air Capitol - Wichita, KS
Armadillo - Amarillo, TX
The Alamo - San Antonio, TX
The Astrodome - Houston, TX
The Apple - New York, NY
Bean Town - Boston, MA
Big D - Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
Big O - Omaha, NE
The Bikini - Miami, FL or Florida in general
Bright Lights - Kansas City, MO
bull city - Durham, NC
capital city - Raleigh, NC
CB Town - Council Bluffs, IA
Cigar City - Tampa, FL
Circle City - Indianapolis
The Cities - Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Cow Town - Calgary, AB
(The) Flag - Flagstaff, AZ
The Friendly - Philadelphia, PA
(The) Gateway - St. Louis, MO
Gay Bay - San Francisco, CA
gold city - Goldsboro, NC
Guitar - Nashville, TN
Hog Town - Toronto
Hotlanta - Atlanta, GA
Irish - South Bend, IN
Mardi Gras - New Orleans, LA
Mile High - Denver, CO
Music City - Nashville, TN
queen city - Charlotte, NC
The Dirty - Cleveland, OH
The Mistake on the Lake - Erie, PA, Cleveland, OH and
every other city on the Great Lakes
The Nickel - Buffalo, NY
The Peg - Winnipeg
Philly - Philadelphia
The Rubber - Akron, Ohio
Shaky City - Los Angeles (aka Lost Angels, Lower Arkansas)
Smoke City - Birmingham, AL
Steel City/Town - Pittsburgh, PA
The Swamp - Montreal
Windy - Chicago, IL
