If you’re going to make it in trucking these are the trucker terms you’ll want to remember along with some good ole trucking slang you’ll hear on the CB radio.
Being a trucker is not only a unique way of life, it also comes with a unique way of communicating that only those in the trucking industry probably can decipher and understand.
10-4 – acknowledging something
10-6 – busy right now
10-8 – en route
20 – location
4-Wheeler – automobile
APU – authorized pick-up
Backhaul – retuning load to home location
Bear Trap – speed radar trap
Bill of Lading – document that details information regarding the goods being hauled by a carrier from a shipper
Chicken Coop – Weigh Station
Chicken Lights – Added lights on and around a truck
Chocks –blocks placed in front and behind wheels to prevent truck from rolling
Cosignee – person who receives the goods
Cosignor – person who ships the goods
County Mounty – – county sheriff
Deadhead – miles driven with no load
Dry Van –standard enclosed truck trailer
ETA – estimated time of arrival
Freightshaker – Freightliner truck
GCW (Gross Combined Weight) – combined wieght of tractor/trailer and load
Gear Jammer –speeding driver
Hammer Down – drive faster
Hopper – truck that empties load through bottom that opens
HOS –hours of service
Intermodal – shipping container freight
Jack-Knife –when trailer is pushed to the side of the tractor
K-whopper – Kenworth truck
Kingpin – pin where the axel wheel pivots
LTL (Less Than Truckload) – load less than 10,000 lbs.
Motor Carrier – person or company that is responsible for transporting goods via a commercial motor vehicle
P&D Driver – pickup and delivery driver locally
Payload – weight of the load
Peddle Run – route with lots of deliveries
Pete – Peterbilt truck
RC (Rate Confirmation) – the rate shipper or broker agrees to pay carrier to haul a load
Reefer – refridgerated truck trailer
Shiny Side Up – top of truck; don’t crash or roll over
Sliding Fifth Wheel – fifth wheel that can be slid back to redistrubute weight on the axels
Trucking Authority –FMCSA approval to haul loads
Willy Weaver – drunk driver
Now that you know the trucker terms and are talking like a real driver, it’s time you use a tool that most truckers rely on to help them save time and money – the Trucker Path app.
Trucker Path is free to download and helps drivers: