and other things you might hear on the CB
Truckers have a unique culture and language, most of which is totally incomprehensible to the average person. We are, for the most part an honest, surley, hard-working, rough-cut bunch of men and women who live in a world most people have no idea even exists.
The average person, one who doesn't know (and doesn't want to know) a trucker, sees truckers as an impedement to their driving, and a bunch of uneducated rednecks driving around fouling up traffic. It may surprise these people to know that many truckers are college educated people who have moved into trucking at some point for numerous reasons. These reasons could be industry slow downs, factory closings, or (as in my case) simply needing a change. One thing all truckers have in common are we are men and women doing a job which is needed by our country in order to keep the nation's economy alive and growing.
But we do have our , ummmm, quirks. Truckers have their own culture. It's a culture that "4-wheelers" (people who drive 4 wheeled vehicles) don't understand and frankly aren't really welcomed. While truckers are a integral part of society, they live pretty much outside that society. This is partly by choice and partly because that society rejects them. Truckers are often viewed as drug-crazed sleep-dreprived maniacs driving around the highways just looking for someone to run over.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. We are a very, very safety conscious group who want nothing more than to do our jobs without any accidents or deaths along the way. We are easy for the media and special interest groups to demonize; large trucks rolling down the highway. Yes, when sitting in a 2000lbs car next to a 80,000lbs truck it can be intimidating and scary. But it's the skill and safety mindedness of the driver that keeps you alive when you are riding next to that rig.
Do we have our "bad apples"? Yep. We sure do. And if you spend some time listening to the CB radio you'll here just what we think of those people. You'll hear drivers fussing at less experienced drivers for bad driving habits. You'll hear drivers calling for state police to report seriously unsafe drivers (yes, they are few, but they are out there and we report them ourselves). And once in a while you'll hear somebody calling out "has anybody seen my pants?". This is an old truckers joke which basically means that driver just wole up and doesn't remember just which way it was out of the truckstop and back onto the highway.
Sadly, if you spend time listening to the CB you'll also hear a lot of guys saying profane comments, wanting to fight, and a bunch of other unflattering things. But we are a kinda rough-cut bunch of people. It's kinda needed for this kind of work. Truckin ain't for sissies.