# Do truck drivers still use CB radio? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2009, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730 "2009-07-21T13:04:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Brainiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Brainiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730/1 "2009-07-21T13:04:24Z")
Or is there some cell phone equivalent? Push to talk channel of some kind? ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730/2 "2009-07-21T13:15:24Z")
CB’s are still used. Not as much garbage on them as before cell phones. I still carry a portable CB with me traveling on hunting trips. The truckers keep road hazard information well reported. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730/3 "2009-07-21T13:20:22Z")
My boyfriend’s new Giant Serial Killer Van came with a CB. He loves listening to the truckers ramble on. We’ve started ironically using CB slang from the 70’s to embarrass ourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730/4 "2009-07-21T13:55:07Z")
> [@Gbro](#): > > CB’s are still used… > > I still carry a portable CB with me traveling on hunting trips. The truckers keep road hazard information well reported. Agreed. My wife and I use a CB on road trips for the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730/5 "2009-07-21T14:05:11Z")
> [@Brainiac](#): > > Or is there some cell phone equivalent? Push to talk channel of some kind? The original push-to-talk cell phone was rolled out by Nextel and their primary customers were commercial outfits that did a lot of dispatching, like taxis and trucks. (I worked for the company that used to do their billing.) However, that was (and is) point-to-point; you have to know the number of the person you want to talk to. There is no cell phone service that provides an open channel the way CB does. Nothing beats a CB radio for telling any interested drivers within a couple of miles about accidents, traffic tie-ups, and bears in plain brown wrappers (I guess they still say that). ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730/6 "2009-07-21T15:47:50Z")
They do. Also: sex lights! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730/7 "2009-07-21T16:25:15Z")
I just like spottin’ the seat-covers, myself. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730/8 "2009-07-21T20:43:30Z")
My friend is a short-haul truck driver (day trips) and he’s on the CB daily. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730/9 "2009-07-21T20:45:15Z")
Do they still use all that insane lingo, like “sakes alive good buddy” and “bears in the air” and all those ten-codes? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730/10 "2009-07-21T20:47:03Z")
That’s a big 10-4 good buddy. 😃 Quite a bit, but not as much as the 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730/11 "2009-07-21T21:12:00Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > That’s a big 10-4 good buddy. 😃 > > Quite a bit, but not as much as the 70’s. Is it true that, at one point, “Good buddy” became a sort of code phrase meaning, “I’m gay and looking to hook up with somebody”? Or was that just a legend that Ann Landers spread? ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730/12 "2009-07-21T21:16:50Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > They do. Also: sex lights! OK, I’ve tried Googling this and ended up with all sorts of sites that have made my wife eye me _very_ suspiciously. All to no avail. What the heck are sex lights?! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730/13 "2009-07-21T21:56:41Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > OK, I’ve tried Googling this and ended up with all sorts of sites that have made my wife eye me _very_ suspiciously. All to no avail. What the heck are sex lights?! [“Sex Lights” – Got Pulled Over (Somebody’s about to get screwed!)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CB_slang) ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730/14 "2009-07-21T22:14:02Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Is it true that, at one point, “Good buddy” became a sort of code phrase meaning, “I’m gay and looking to hook up with somebody”? Or was that just a legend that Ann Landers spread? Years ago I was on the CB talking to a trucker, and when I said “Thanks, good buddy” he asked me not to call him that. I always speculated that the song “[CB Savage](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK3SWTuY3FY)” (“Mercy sakes, good bodies…I’d love to get to know your handles”) altered the perception of “good buddy.” ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-truck-drivers-still-use-cb-radio/503730/15 "2009-07-21T23:26:03Z")
Before retiring years ago, I had to drive a lot for business. Stupid New York State still kept their speed limit at 55 when the rest of the world had 65 or higher. So, a fuzz buster and a CB radio let me know where just about every Smokey was. It was almost as good as having diplomatic immunity. 😃