Question:
My partner isn't available to ask this to now, so I'll ask here.
I saw 2 semis driving side by side today when the road was clear ahead for the guy in the right lane. I was wondering why he wouldn't pull ahead then I thought maybe they are talking on the CB to each other while keeping pace.
Then I wondered how do you talk to a specific person? There were other trucks around.
So if you were driving along and there was a red truck, a blue truck and a green truck, and you wanted to talk to the person in the red truck, how do you do that? Each person has a nicname "handle" or is that just in the movies?
If you say "hey you in the red truck" and start talking, everyone hears your conversation right? How far an area is it that you can hear other people?
And how do you stop "tripping" over other people's conversation? If everyone is talking how does that work? Can only one person talk at a time?
Just wondering.....thanks.

Answer:
Jiminy Christmas, you ask alot of questions.
.
He didn't want to exceed the speed limit THAT much.....( there is another thread on the round table about that ).

Usually........most trucks have a name on the door or trailer or call by the make of the vehicle that is pulling the big box behind it.
With all the questions you ask about trucking.....( and it seems you are green about it )...How can you be sure Your partner and You mostly you will enjoy it much less make $500,000.00 per year.
You said before you haven't seen him in a few months. Maybe you should schedule a vacation from your accounting job and ride with him a couple of weeks, to even see if this admiration you have will carry you to your dream income.

Answer:
Sometimes the conversation is initiated like this:
"Hey Swift you want to get that thing back over to the right where you belong".
"But I'm trying to get around J.B. up here and he wont get out of the fuel to let me over and by the way you drive your truck and I'll drive mine you azzhat."
And then you'll hear a bunch of swear words and racial slurs and then one will tell the other to pull it over so they can discuss it with their fist.
Answer:

Well I expect that! No worse than what I hear at work.....the F word is as common nowadays as the word "the". LOL
I have used two way radios when travelling with another person in a car. One way talking. If there were 100 truckers talking how does that work?

Answer:

Well, yes Sir I do ask a lot. I'm very curious and very impatient.
We are talking about getting married so I guess we will have to meet up for that huh?
Do you have a wife waiting at home for you? Kids?
PS - you didn't answer my question.

Answer:
Never been a fan of CB radios but they work similar to the 2 ways you used.Key the mike when you want to talk.Sometimes its hard to get a word in edgewise.
Range depends on many variables(radio power,antenna,has it been tweeked or not,etc,etc).
CB jargon has changed alot over the years and seldomly resembles the days of yesteryear(Smokey and The Bandit or the song Convoy).
I personally dont have much use for them except for directions on occasion and for some amusement from time to time.
Seems that whenever you do engage in intelligent conversation with some other driver some idiot will come along and ruin it for you and then proceed to follow you to whichever channel you go to.
There good for a laugh though every now and then especially when the lizards get hold of a mike.
Answer:
Well, first off :
"Arguing with a truck driver is like wrestling with a pig in the mud;Sooner or later you figure out the pig enjoys it."
...that explains a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My partner says he listens into the CB for amusement and hears guys set up fights "at the next truck stop" but they usually end up having a coffee together instead.
There are female and male lizzards I've been hearing. I don't think a male lizzard would survive seeking business with a mike......LOL

Answer:
You'll figure out the gadgetry that goes along with driving in due time dear.
The first thing you need to get a handle on(no pun intended)is learning the basics of a good and thorough pre-trip inspection,subtle warning signs and some not so subtle that could spell disaster down the road or at least a dent in your pocketbook.
Get a current truckers road atlas and learn how to read it.
Trip planning and time management are keys to making money in this career.Shippers and recievers frown on being late as well as the carrier your working for.
No book or driving school can teach you the reality of what is involved in driving a truck in the real world.Most of us learn it as we go with the help from other veteran drivers.
Answer:

Impaitence is not a good trait for a driver to have. This is one of the reasons behind many accidents.
Answer:
Driving along side another semi is not a great idea from a safety stand point. If something happens, tire blow out, breakdown by vehicle up the road, the driver has nowhere to go.
There are times when truck will line ‘em up side by side in constructions zones just before the lanes merge. But that’s a different story, and is illegal in some locations. I was coming down a 3 lane being merged into 1 lane, trucks side by side, a 4 wheeler plowed into the truck in the hammer lane, just past sign that said no trucks in the left lane.
As said above, you just key up and ask for them. Sometimes they will have their ‘handle’ on the tractor. Usually just holler for the company. If it is a large company like Swift, Werner, JB Hunt, you may also give the direction they are traveling. Sometimes I will give a mile marker or exit as well: “North bound Swift going past exit 25, you got your radio on?”
Sometimes one will start a conversation by saying, “Break 19.”
Generally the reach of the radio is about a mile to mile and a half. Some of us turn the squelch up so you need to be within about 300 feet to talk to us. And some of us just don’t bother to turn the thing on. Also in some areas, the radios are overwhelmed by base stations and the driver just turns the radio off.
When you key the mic, everything you say will be public.
If you are going to talk to someone for a long time, usually one goes to a different channel. People running together will setup an alternative channel. When I am talking with someone on a long trip I will go to a different channel and turn on my handheld to 19 to catch any traffic information.
A lot of companies have a channel that the drivers will talk on. So if I see another Swift driver I will tell them go to company… usually followed by which one is company?
Hope that helps.
-JHappy Dwellers Society
Company Driver Division

Answer:
Yes that is very helpful. I understand it now.
Thanks a lot!

Answer:

Yes you are correct.
I know my personality is suited to driving because, believe it or not, I am a very quiet person. I am not verbal at all. My fiancee goes quiet for days and that was hard to take at first, but now that I know him so well I know he is just pulling in his horns to recover from a long trip or doing a lot of brain crunching to figure out some things, etc. But he is very affectionate and I just let him ride out his ups and downs. He says he is not used to having to keep anyone happy besides himself and that he is learning. LOL Truckers are loners, surviving by themselves, because they have to. I am more suited to that life than the life I have now. I am not happy in my job dealing with rich spoiled people who take advantage of you.
Each and every one of you has your story to tell about how you got into trucking, why you feel it's right for you after all the years of driving, the people in your life who wait for you, or have stopped waiting, and just the nature of the job that keeps you rambling around and sometimes with truck payments and repairs just making ends meet. I was expecting others to tell me more about themselves, I did ask them, but most here are not talkative except to criticize.
I was just offering friendship.
Instead of impatient I should have said anxious....to get together with him and do this. I dread many aspects of the job. I don't want to leave my children even though they are grown. There are some things I am not going to like at all, but much more that I am going to love. For example, driving along the ocean, up a mountain on a nice day, through rolling hills. Which I guess is why all of you are driving, am I right?
He has mentioned he may quit driving and move to Canada. That is a possibility too. I am not 100% sure our plans of team driving will go through.
But I want it to happen, and so does he. It was his idea. [He's already told his future employer that I will be team driving with him, so they are expecting me. That's awesome!]
Anyone want to tell their stories? It would be very interesting. How long driving? How many different kinds of hauling jobs? How many trucks have you been through? etc.


Answer:
To me the best way to use a CB....is to keep the on/off knob turned alllllll the way to the left, just past the click-stop. Thats how my radio is most of the time.
I got tired of all the claptrap, rambos, morons, racist pigs, and other "SHPOSH's" (Sub-human pieces of (edited)) that rant on the CB. Sorry if I offended anyone....but even I don't have a halo, and I can't stand it. I'd rather listen to my XM, and hear what "I want to hear".
I turn it on when its needed, then back off. I don't spend that much time worrying about the cops, scales or much else. I've got a 70 mph truck, and if I am stupid enough to get caught speeding....well, I guess I deserve it.
I've noticed here of late when I wanted to talk to another driver.....alot of them seem to have theirs off as well....So I like what I do, you don't, too bad, get over it. Get on with your life, I am.

Answer:
"How 'bout chya KTL?", "You got it KTL", "Get your *ss out the way, KTL!!!". That's what I always listened for.

Answer:

Yea, like in Denver, CO they have several area's were there are subdivisions near I-25. If you're around Santa Fe Ave there is a guy on his base station every morning who will say anything he has to to get someone mad. What annoys me is he likes to give out false info.
I only listen to the Child Band (CB) when traffic starts to slow down, its nice to know which lane to be in long before the accident.