As is true in most industries, truckers have their own language. Our jargon is a mixture of CB radio talk and assorted nicknames and redefinitions. Most are fairly obvious, but others may leave some people wondering "What did they just say?" So I decided to put together a list of trucker jargon and their definitions.
In no special order:
10-4 - affirmative or message received
42 - affirmative or I agree
10-33 - Vehicle accident - "There's a 10-33 2 miles ahead of you"
10-36 - time - "Does anyone have a 10-36?"
bear - cop in a marked cruiser
smokey bear - see bear
full grown bear - state cop in a marked cruiser
plain wrapper - cop in an unmarked cruiser, is usually accompanied with the color - "Blue plain wrapper"
polar bear - state cop in a white cruiser - seen in Ohio and a few other states
county mounty - county cop
evil knievel - cop on a motorcycle (2 wheeler)
diesel bear - DOT cop
bear in the air - cop in a plane or helicopter
flip - U-turn - "The bear made a flip in the median"
4 wheeler - a car
beaver - female in a 4 wheeler
seat cover - female passenger in a 4 wheeler
good buddy - a gay man, usually on the radio soliciting as a prostitute
lot lizard - truckstop or rest area female prostitute
recreational reptile - see lot lizard
sleeper leaper - see lot lizard
creepy crawly - drug dealer, pimp, beggar, or dealer of stolen property that hang around truckstops. Also mugger.
skateboard - empty flatbed
tanker yanker - driver who pulls tankers
2 week wonder - recent truck driving school graduate. "Last week I couldn't spell truck driver, this week I is one"
freight hauler - driver or company who hauls general commodities in van type trailers
dry box - van type non-refrigerated trailer
reefer - refigerated trailer, also the refrigeration unit itself
pickle park - rest area
go-go juice - diesel fuel
motion lotion - see go-go juice
sailboat fuel - what you're hauling in an empty trailer
dispatcher brains - see sailboat fuel
coloring book - log book
funny pages - see coloring book
lumper - person or service that unloads trucks, paid by the driver
chicken house - weigh station
scale house - see chicken house
hassle station - see chicken house
the big word is out - chicken house is closed
the little word is out - chicken house is open
chickens loose on scales entry denied - chicken house is closed
cops lounging on sofas eating doughnuts - chicken house is closed
damn! - chicken house is open
cracker-head - stupid person
stupid - someone who is frequently told to shut up on the CB radio - "Shut up stupid!"
gator - piece of tire rubber in the road
through the woods - Non interstate secondary highways, US routes, country roads - "I'm going to cut through the woods"
grandma's house - through the woods as a means to dodge a chicken house - "I'm going by Grandma's house"
chicken lights - decorative lights on the tractor and/or trailer
chicken truck - a truck with lots of chrome and chicken lights
chicken hauler - a mythical driver who drives a chicken truck, never goes under 100mph or leaves the left lane, and who performs his truck pretrip safety inspection by saying "break 1-9 for a radio check"
super trucker - a mythical driver who can drive for a month straight without stopping for any reason, makes over a million dollars a year, and is so good at driving that he can drive his truck and yours too. If you don't believe it, just ask him.
hammer - accelerator - "Put the hammer down"
gas - while trucks actually run on diesel it's not uncommon for a trucker to gas on it - see hammer
recruiter - paid liar
dispacther - paid liar who knows everything until something goes wrong and then knows nothing at all
big road - interstate highway
skinny road - 2 lane road
swindle sheet - old time name for toll ticket
We also have our own names for places. Many are the common nicknames, some are derived from those, and some others have just evolved over the years. Here are some of our more unique ones that every experienced trucker recognizes.
Shaky - California
The Guitar - Nashville, TN
K-Town - Knoxville, TN
The Choo-Choo - Chattanooga, TN
The Chili Bowl - Chilicothe, OH
The Circle - Cinncinnati, OH
The Bikini - Florida
Little Havana - Miami, FL
Cigar City - Tampa, FL
The Silly Circle - The loop around Washington, DC
The Rubber - Akron, OH
The Hillbilly - West Virginia
The Dirty Side - The NorthEast
I'm sure there's a lot more I could add to this, but you get the idea.