What the Truck? CB Lingo Decoded

By Diane Tait

Image courtesy wikimedia

If you’ve ever taken the time to listen to truckers conversing with one another on CB radio, you might think you’d entered a foreign country.  That’s because CB lingo is as cryptic to the uninitiated as Greek would be to most Americans.  Even worse, while many of the words spoken on radio by the typical trucker might be readily recognizable, the meaning of those words is anything but to all save other truckers.  So, if you don’t know an Alligator from a Wiggle Wagon, I thought I’d take the time to clue you into the ABC’s of CB radio lingo.

While an Alligator might seem like a pretty common sight in the Sunshine State, when a trucker mentions seeing one, he or she isn’t referring to a reptile, but rather to the scaly remnants of a shredded truck tire lying on the road.

When a trucker mentions an Angry Kangaroo, don’t expect to find an escaped marsupial hopping down the road.  Keep an eye open for a truck with one headlight out.

Image courtesy Wikimedia

Likewise, the mention of a bear by a trucker is code for the highway patrol where the term Bear Den is used to point out their headquarters, and a Bear in the Air is warning of a helicopter or light plane used to spot speeders.  (Another designation for a police helicopter is a Flying Doughnut.) Bear Bait lets other truckers in the area know that a speeder is on the road.  A Bear Trap is another way to alert truckers of a speed trap.  While disco is dead when it comes to the music scene, if you hear a trucker announces a Bear Doing Disco, you’d better keep your eyes peeled for a police car racing down the highway with its lights and siren going full tilt.

While everyone knows of the Blue Light Special used at Kmart to announce a flash sale, when a trucker announces one it’s to warn other truckers of a police car idling with its blue strobe lights flashing.

Boy Scouts are highway patrol, while County Mounties warn of local police patrols.

While the Bunny Hop might be a popular dance step, when truckers report a Bunny Hopper, what is being conveyed is the sighting of a vehicle that frequently changes lanes.

If you hear a trucker mention a Buster Brown, don’t think shoes, think of the brown box of a van that UPS uses to make deliveries.

A Cashbox is how truckers refer to an armored car.

Image courtesy Pixabay

While Checkpoint Charlie used to denote the final US Army post separating East and West Berlin, to truckers it designates a random stop typically manned by local police to check drivers for sobriety.

A Chicken Coop has nothing to do with poultry.  It’s the way truckers refer to the weigh stations they are required to frequent.

While to you a Cornflake is breakfast cereal, to a trucker it’s used to denote a Consolidated Freightways truck.

If you hear a trucker talking about a Dragon Wagon, don’t expect to see a fire-breathing reptile.  Look for a tow truck trundling down the road.

When you hear a trucker say, “They dropped it off the shoulder,” expect to see a vehicle that has run off the road ahead.

While Evel Knievel was once a motorcycle daredevil, to truckers the moniker designates any motorcycle cop.

If you’ll recall the 1970’s Telly Savalas detective show, you’ll appreciate that a Kojak with a Kodak denotes a cop with a radar gun trolling for speeders.

A K-Whopper is how truckers refer to Kenworth tractors.

Meat Wagons designate ambulances in CB-Speak.

While everyone is familiar with Miss Piggy of the Muppets, when a trucker announces he’s spotted Miss Piggy, he’s telling other truckers that a female cop is lurking somewhere nearby.

Image courtesy flickr

While the majority of the public denotes a nightcrawler as a popular fishing bait, when truckers mention Nightcrawlers, they are warning fellow truckers of numerous squad cars lurking nearby.

Papa Bear warns of a cop who’s eavesdropping on CB chatter.

While the FBI regards a paperhanger as a con artist who plies his trade by writing bad checks, when a trucker mentions a Paperhanger you can rest assured that somewhere nearby is a policeman standing by the side of the road writing a ticket.

To a trucker, a Parking Lot isn’t a place to pull over for the night.  It’s CB for a traffic jam that has brought all traffic to a halt.

When you hear a trucker mention a Plain White Wrapper, rest assured that an unmarked police car is trolling for speeders.  Another way to denote an unmarked car is to radio about a Fox in the hen house.

A Rolling Roadblock is used to warn other truckers construction vehicles moving slowly down the highway.  A Rolling Refinery is what truckers call tanker trucks, whether they contain fuel or not.

If a trucker mentions a Skateboard, don’t look for a teenager racing down the road.  Look for an empty flatbed trailer.

Image courtesy wikimedia

A Smokey refers to a highway patrolman whose hat resembles that of Smokey the Bear.

A Thermos Bottle to a trucker is a tractor pulling a trailer laden with chemicals.

When a trucker mentions that another vehicle is ‘Wearing their bumper out,’ you’ve just been clued in that there is a tailgater up ahead. 

A Wiggle Wagon designates a truck pulling more than one trailer.

It’s All in the Numbers

Another thing that truckers like to use are number codes that work like a kind of shorthand.  While most drivers know that 10-4 means affirmative, there are a number of other numerical codes used by truckers that most folks aren’t familiar with.

10-6 means “I’m busy right now.  Please standby.”

10-7 is a way of signing off

10-8 is a way for one trucker to tell another they are enroute

10-9 is a request to repeat the message

10-13 is a request for weather conditions

10-20 is how one trucker asks another for their location (What’s your twenty, good buddy?)

10-33 is the way that truckers and cops announce an emergency on a CB radio

10-36 is a request for the local time

10-100 is a bathroom break

Diane Tait owns and operates A&B Insurance.  To find out more about how you can save money on truck insurance, go to her site or fill out the form at right.