If you’re new to the trucking business or simply can’t get the hang of all the jargon, we’ve created a list of the most commonly used terms in trucking to help you out.
To give you a true idea of the terms used by truckers, we’re going to separate them into two sections: CB radio lingo, those used by the truckers amongst each other; and trucking terms, used throughout the industry.
This is nowhere near an exhaustive list of the lingo truckers have between each other and with others but we chose a few of our favorites to share.
CB Lingo
Alligator –
Bear – Police officer. Usually used in reference to where the cop is; behind you, up ahead, etc.
Double Nickel- 55 MPH speed limit zone
Motion Lotion – Deisel Fuel
Shutter Trouble – Having trouble staying awake
Through the woods – Taking back roads, leaving the Interstate for secondary roads
Trucking Jargon
APU – Authorized pick-up
Bond – A binding agreement
Divisible Load – A load that can be reduced to adhere to regulations standards regarding weight and size.
Heavy Hauler – A truck that transports loads requiring special equipment for loading, unloading, and transporting because of weight or size.
Laden Weight – Combined weight of vehicle and its load
Transponder – An electronic tag storing information read by roadside scanners.
There you have it. As we said, there are hundreds more terms to share but we’ll leave it with these 12 for now. If you’re interested in trucking for us, contact us here and you’ll be able to pick up the jargon as you work.
