# CB Terminology

| --- | --- |
| Affirmative | Yes. |
| All Locked Up | Closed weigh station. |
| Anteater | The Kenworth T-600 truck has a sloped aerodynamic hood. It is also called an aardvark. |
| Alligator | Also called a “gator”, is a piece or pieces of tire on the road that can be dangerous if hit by your vehicle causing damage to hoses, belts, radiators, vehicle body, etc. or to other vehicles if you hit the gator and it bounces up. The pieces can look similar to an alligator, hence the name.  Don’t let it “bite you”!  Small pieces are called baby alligators.  Several small pieces are called alligator bait.  Sometimes called just a “gator”. |
| Back Door | There is something behind you. “Watch out- Smokey’s at your back door.” |
| Back It Down | Reduce your speed or slow down. |
| Backed Out Of It | If the driver cannot maintain their speed, they might need to downshift.  For example, a truck climbing a hill. “Backed out of it. Moving over to the slow lane.” |
| Back Row | The back row or rows of parking in a rest area or truck stop, sometimes a hangout for “lot lizards”. |
| Bambi | A living or dead deer. |
| Base Station or Unit | A stationary or immobile radio (typically a CB radio or ham radio).  For example, a radio placed in a house or building. |
| Bear | A police officer or law enforcement officer. |
| Bear Bait | A speeding vehicle that hides or protects other speeding vehicles when following it. |
| Bear Bite | A speeding ticket. |
| Bear Den or Bear Cave | Police station or other law enforcement headquarters. |
| Bear In The Air | A law enforcement aircraft.  These aircraft can be used for traffic control and other things such as checking speed radar. |
| Bear In The Bushes | A police officer or other law enforcement officer is hiding out of view, likely trying to catch speeding traffic with their radar gun. |
| Billy Big Rigger | A trucker who brags about themselves or their truck.  Also known as “supertrucker”. |
| Bedbugger | Household moving company. |
| Big R | A Roadway truck. |
| Big Road | The Interstate or large highway. |
| Big Truck | 18 wheeler or semi tractor trailer truck. |
| Bird Dog | A radar/laser detector. |
| Big Word | Before the exit for a weight station, there is a bright lighted sign that says “OPEN” or “CLOSED”.  Sometimes it is difficult to read the sign from a distance, however, “CLOSED” is a bigger/longer word.  If you hear someone say “big word is out”, they are communicating that the station is closed. |
| Black Eye | A vehicle headlight out. “Driver has a black eye”. |
| Bobtail | A semi tractor without a trailer. |
| Boogie | Highest gear or top gear of the vehicle transmission. |
| Boulevard | The Interstate. |
| Brake Check | There is traffic congestion ahead where you will need to slow down or come to a stop. |
| Break | To appropriately access a busy radio channel,  say “break” and the channel number, then begin talking. |
| Breaking Up | The radio signal is cutting in and out, is weak, or fading. |
| Brush Your Teeth And Comb Your Hair | A law enforcement vehicle is radaring vehicles. |
| Bubba | Something you can call other drivers in a jokingly way. |
| Bull Dog | A Mack truck. |
| Bull Frog | An ABF truck. |
| Bull Hauler | A livestock or cow hauler. |
| Bumper Sticker | A vehicle that is tailgating another vehicle.  Also called a “hitchhiker”. |
| Bundled Out | A vehicle that is fully or over loaded or is at maximum capacity. |
| Buster Brown | UPS truck / driver. |
| Cabbage | A steep hill grade in Oregon. |
| Cabover | Cab Over the Engine (COE) tractor. |
| Cash Register | A tollbooth. |
| Checking Ground Pressure | The weigh station scales are open.  Also known as “running you across”. |
| Chicken Coop | A weigh station.  Sometimes simply called “the coop”. |
| Chicken Lights | Extra lights on a truck and/or trailer. |
| Chicken Hauler or Chicken Truck | Can be referring to a tractor hauling chickens or to a fancy or deluxe truck (with lights and chrome for example). |
| Comedian | The median that separates opposing traffic.  This could be paved, include trees/shrubs, are divider. |
| Container | An overseas container. |
| Come-a-part Engine | A Cummins engine. |
| Come Back | If you couldn’t hear the last transmission or want the other driver to talk, you can ask for a comeback. |
| Come On | Communicating with a driver that you hear him calling and want them to talk. “Yeah driver, come on”. |
| Comic Book | The log book. |
| Commercial Company | A prostitute. |
| Convoy | A group of vehicles traveling together. |
| Copy | The radio transmission is acknowledged or understood. “Copy that”. |
| Cornflake | Consolidated Freightways truck. |
| County Mountie | County police or deputy. |
| Covered wagon | Trailer with sidewalls and tarp. |
| Crackerhead | An insult. |
| Crotch rocket | A fast motorcycle. |
| Deadhead | Pulling an empty trailer. |
| Destruction | Road construction. |
| Diesel Car | A semi-tractor. |
| Diesel Cop | Commercial Vehicle enforcement officer. |
| Donkey | Behind you. “Smokey on your donkey”. |
| Do What? | Didn’t hear and/or understand you.  Please repeat your transmission. |
| Double Nickel | 55 mph. |
| Doubles | Double trailers. |
| Drawing Lines | Completing a log book |
| Driver | You might be called “driver” if other drivers do not know your CB handle. |
| Driving Award | A speeding ticket. |
| Downstroke | Driving downhill. |
| Dragon Wagon | A tow truck. |
| Dragonfly | A vehicle with no or little power.  For example, a truck going uphill. |
| Dry Box or Dry Van | An unrefrigerated freight trailer. |
| 18 Wheeler | A tractor trailer. |
| 85th Street | Interstate 85. |
| Evil Knievel | A motorcycle cop. |
| Eyeball | To see something. |
| Feeding The Bears | Paying a ticket. |
| Fingerprint | Unloading a trailer yourself. |
| Flip-Flop | A U-turn or return trip. |
| FM  | An AM/FM radio. |
| 42  | Yes, or OK. |
| Four-Letter Word | Nobody wants to stop at the weigh station- that is why “OPEN” is considered a four-letter word in the trucking industry.  When the weigh station is open. |
| Four Wheeler | Any passenger vehicle with four wheels. |
| Freight Shaker | A Freightliner truck. |
| Front Door | In front of you. |
| Full-Grown Bear | State Trooper / Highway Patrol. |
| Garbage Hauler | Farm produce trailer load such as vegatables or fruit or a produce hauler. |
| Gear Jammer | Someone who speeds up and slows down frequently. |
| General Mess of Crap | A GMC truck |
| Georgia Overdrive | Putting it into neutral on a downgrade. |
| Go-Go Juice | Diesel fuel. |
| Good Buddy | “10-4, good buddy” was a popular way to say “OK, good friend” back in the day. Things can change over time - we’ve heard that it could also mean you are referring to them as a homosexual. |
| Good Neighbor | If you want to show appreciation to someone else. “Thanks, good neighbor”. |
| Got My Nightgown On | A driver is in their sleeper and is getting ready to go to sleep. |
| Go To Company | Asking another company driver to go to the company’s designated channel to communicate or discuss company business or other matters without monopolizing a particular channel. |
| Go To The Harley | Go to Channel 1. |
| Got Your Ears On? | Are you listening? |
| Gouge On It | Peddle to the metal!  They want you to go fast. |
| Granny Lane | The slower lane on a highway or Interstate. |
| Greasy | The road is icy or slippery. |
| Greasy Side Up | A vehicle that is unsidedown. |
| Green Stamps | Money. |
| Grossed Out | The gross vehicle weight is maxed out, (typically at 80,000 lbs.) or the vehicle is at  maximum capacity. |
| Ground Pressure | The truck weight according to the weigh station scale.  “They are testing your ground pressure”. |
| Gumball Machine | Patrol car lights. |
| Hammer Down | Peddle to the metal. Go fast! |
| Hammer Lane | The fast lane or passing lane. |
| Hand | Term for a helper or fellow worker. |
| Handle (CB Handle) | “What is your CB Handle?” They are asking you what your CB nickname is.  Although not required, they are encouraged and can be fun too!  CB World offers a CB handle name generator- check it out.  You can choose your own CB handle too - select a nickname that might descripe your character or something you are well-known for. |
| Happy Happy | Happy New Year! “Wishing you a happy happy!” |
| Having “Shutter Trouble” | Having difficulty keeping your eyes open or staying awake. |
| Ho Chi Minh Trail | California Highway 152.  This highway has lots of accidents. |
| Holler | Call me. “Give me a holler later.” |
| Home 20 | A driver’s home location. |
| Hood | Conventional tractor, not a cab-over. |
| Hundred Dollar Lane, High Dollar Lane | Describing a traffic lane where trucks are prohibited from driving on- there can be very high fines for trucks driving in these prohibited lanes (typically the far left lane). |
| Jackpot | Patrol car lights. |
| Key Down | Talking over someone who is also trying to transmit.  Powerful radios can drown out a less powerful radio. |
| Key Up | Transmitting on your CB radio using the transmit button on your microphone. “Key up your mic.” |
| In My Back Pocket | A location that you’ve passed. “It’s already in my back pocket.” |
| In The Big Hole | Transmission is in the highest gear or top gear. |
| K-Whopper | Kenworth (KW) tractor. |
| Kojak With A Kodak | Law enforcement officer is checking radar with a radar gun. |
| Land Line | A stationary telephone with a land line hookup- not a cellphone. |
| Large Car | A big truck that oftentimes has a sleeper and additional chrome, lights and/or other accessories. |
| Left Coast | The West Coast. |
| Local Information | If you need directions for an area you aren’t familiar with, ask for “local information”. |
| Local Yokel | An officer from a small town, small county, or small city. |
| Lollipop | The road reflector poles or marker poles with reflectors, often on the side or median of the highway. |
| Lot Lizard | A prostitute that seeks out truckers as potential customers at a rest area or truck stop. |
| Lumper | Someone that will help load/unload trailers typically wanting cash in return. |
| Male Buffalo | A male prostitute. |
| Mama Bear | Female law enforcement officer. |
| Mash Your Motor | Pedal to the metal!  They want you to go fast! |
| Meat Wagon | An ambulance. |
| Merry Merry | Merry Christmas. |
| Motion Lotion | Diesel fuel. |
| Moving On | Heading down the road. |
| Mud Duck | A weak radio signal. |
| Negatory | Negative or no. |
| 95th Street | Interstate 95. |
| On The Side | On standby. |
| Parking Lot | An auto transporter. |
| Pay The Water Bill | Going to the bathroom. |
| Pickle Park | A rest area where lot lizards can frequently be found. |
| Pigtail | Tractor to trailer electrical connection. |
| Plain Wrapper | An unmarked police car.  “Watch your back door, there’s a plain red wrapper knockin.” |
| Plenty of Protection | This is a toss up - it could mean that there are lots of law enforcement vehicles around or it could be drivers telling you to go ahead and speed because other vehicles are speeding ahead of you offering protection. |
| Pogo Stick | A flexible support holding the electrical connections to the tractor catwalk |
| Power up | Accelerate, drive faster. |
| Preeshaydit | I appreciate it. |
| Pumpkin | Refers to a Schneider truck, due to it’s orange color. |
| Radio | A CB radio. |
| Radio check | How does my radio sound? |
| Rambo | Someone that is talking real tough on the radio, often when no one can identify them or their location due to the anonymity of CB radio |
| Ratchet jaw | A person that talks for long periods of time staying keyed up so no one else gets a chance to chime in. |
| Reading the mail | Listening to a radio without saying anything. |
| Reefer | Often refers to a refrigerated trailer used to transport temperature sensitive cargo |
| Rest-a-ree-a | Rest Area. |
| Road pizza | Roadkill. |
| Rockin’ chair | A truck that is between two other trucks. |
| Roger | Yes; OK. |
| Roger beep | A feature on either the microphone or radio that causes a beep sound when the microphone is un-keyed. |
| Roller skate | A small car. |
| Rooster cruiser | Large, deluxe, possibly custom truck; a tractor featuring a lot of chrome and lighting. |
| Runnin’you across | Weigh station is active, often moving quickly. |
| Salt shaker | A maintenance vehicle that pours sand or salt on roadways in the winter months. |
| Sandbagging | Another way to describe when someone is listing to the radio but is not talking on the radio. |
| Sandbox | An escape ramp using sand to slow down vehicles. |
| Schneider eggs | Orange traffic cones in construction zones. |
| Seat cover | Describes either the driver or passenger of a four-wheeler |
| Sesame Street | Channel 19 on CB. |
| Shaky | California, sometimes specific to Los Angeles or San Francisco. |
| Shiny side up | Safe travels; drive safe; keeping the vehicle upright. |
| Shooting you in the back | A warning that there is law enforcement using a radar gun. |
| Short short | A small amount of time. |
| Shutdown | Out of service due to the Department of Transit issuing a violation. |
| Sleeper creeper | A prostitute; also known as a lot lizard. |
| Skateboard | A flatbed. |
| Skins | Tires. |
| Smokin’ scooter | Law enforcement officer patrolling on a motorcycle. |
| Smokin’ the brakes | The trailer brakes are smoking from heavy use down a steep slope. |
| Smokey or Smokey Bear | law enforcement; often highway patrol. |
| Split | where the road splits off into different directions. |
| Spy in the sky | Law enforcement aircraft. |
| Stagecoach | Tour bus. |
| Stand on it | Speed up; accelerate. |
| Swinging | The vehicle is transporting swinging meat. |
| Taking pictures | A warning that law enforcement is using a radar gun ahead. |
| 10-4 | OK. |
| Thermos bottle | A tanker trailer. |
| Through the woods | Exiting the Interstate to travel on secondary roads. |
| Throwin’ iron | Putting chains on the tires |
| Too many eggs in the basket | Overweight load. |
| Toothpicks | A load of lumber. |
| Travel agent | A dispatcher; sometimes a broker. |
| Triple digits | Over 100 mph. |
| TYA | “Tune Your Antenna”- you radio signal is weak and transmission is bad. |
| VW  | A Volvo-White tractor. |
| Wagon | A trailer. |
| Walked on you | Talked over you by transmitting at the same time. |
| Wally world | A nickname for Wal-Mart. Could be referencing the store, distribution center, or a truck. |
| West Coast turnarounds | The use of illegal drugs or pills to stay awake for long periods of time allowing for quick cross country trips. This is illegal and not advised. |
| Wiggle wagons | Refers to the trailers when a truck is pulling two or three trailers. |
| Yard | A company terminal. |
| Yardstick | A mile marker located on the highway. |

# CB Codes

| --- | --- |
10-1 | Receiving poorly (I can’t hear you)
| 10-2 | Receiving well (I can hear you)
| 10-3 | Stop transmitting (Shut up)
| 10-4 | Affirmative/I agree
| 10-5 | Relay message (Pass it on)
| 10-6 | Busy/Hold on a second
| 10-7 | Out of Service (either going out of range or no longer using the radio)
| 10-8 | In-Service (Just signed on or came into range)
| 10-9 | Repeat message (Come again?)
| 10-10 | Transmission Completed (Thanks for coming to my TedTalk)
| 10-11 | Talking too rapidly (Take a breath and try again)
| 10-12 | Visitors present (Stop talking about all the lot lizards from last night)
| 10-13 | Weather/road conditions
| 10-14 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-15 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-16 | Make pickup (hitching a load)
| 10-17 | Urgent Business (What I’m about to say is important)
| 10-18 | Anything for us (Why should I care)?
| 10-19 | Nothing for you (No)
| 10-20 | Another word for location
| 10-21 | Call by telephone (This stupid radio isn’t working right)
| 10-22 | Report in-person to…
| 10-23 | Stand-by (Pay attention)!
| 10-24 | Completed last assignment (I still haven’t been paid yet)!
| 10-25 | Can you contact (I’d like to speak with your manager)?
| 10-26 | Disregard the last statement (I was wrong or intentionally deceiving you)
| 10-27 | I am moving to channel… (like an airport, I am announcing my departure)
| 10-28 | Identify your station
| 10-29 | Time is up for contact (You are boring me and I don’t want to talk to you anymore)
| 10-30 | Does not conform to FCC rules (Do you want a fine?)
| 10-31 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-32 | I will give you a radio check
| 10-33 | Emergency traffic (rubberneckers)
| 10-34 | Trouble at this station
| 10-35 | Confidential information (That’s none of your business)
| 10-36 | The correct time is…
| 10-37 | Wrecker needed at… (Some jerk left his car and it needs to be towed)
| 10-38 | Ambulance needed at (Some poor sap needs medical attention)
| 10-39 | Your message delivered (I’m not that type of delivery boy but I did it anyway because I’m a nice person)
| 10-40 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-41 | Please tune to channel…(I want to speak with you more privately, or possibly “go away”)
| 10-42 | Traffic accident at (Some shmuck needs to learn how to drive)
| 10-43 | Traffic tie up at (If I have to wait in traffic for an extended period of time, the least they could do is have something cool to cause it!)
| 10-44 | I have a message for you (Someone else was too impatient to tell you personally)
| 10-45 | All units please report (I am so lonely)
| 10-46 to 10-49 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-50 | Break channel
| 10-51 to 10-59 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-60 | What’s the next message number?
| 10-61 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-62 | Unable to copy, use a phone (Is my CB malfunctioning or is that yours)
| 10-63 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-64 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-65 | Awaiting your message or assignment (I’m listening)
| 10-66 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-67 | All units comply (Obey my orders, chump!)
| 10-68 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-69 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a number that has a sexual connotation, haha I am so funny
| 10-70 | Fire at… (Hold on those aren’t streetlights)
| 10-71 | Continue with the transmission in sequence
| 10-72 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-73 | Speed trap at…(them bears are looking for food!)
| 10-74 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-75 | You are causing interference (Please stop ruining the airwaves for everyone else)
| 10-76 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-77 | Negative contact
| 10-78 to 10-82 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-84 | My telephone number is (Feel free to prank call me when I’m sleeping)
| 10-85 | My home address is (Please rob my house)
| 10-86 to 10-90 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-91 | Talk closer to the microphone (Have you never used a microphone before)
| 10-92 | Your transmitter is acting up (Did you drive your truck into a lake?)
| 10-93 | Check my frequency (Do I sound like I’m underwater)
| 10-94 | Please give me long count (tell me the whole story, I have nothing better to do right now than to listen to you ramble)
| 10-95 | Transmit dead carrier for 5 seconds (will you all shut your lips for 5 seconds? Geez)
| 10-96 To 10-98 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-99 | Mission completed (Just got paid!)
| 10-100 | Need to go to the bathroom (I should have known getting an extra big Gulp was a bad idea!)
| 10-101 to 10-199 | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number
| 10-200 | Police needed at… (Somebody is breaking the law)
| 10-201+ | I am not a trucker and am saying 10 followed by a random number.