CB is limited to the range of 26.965 to 27.405 MHz in 40 channels. It is only so by decree of the FCC. At one time CB did require a license, but this requirement was dropped in the early '70s IIRC. CB has roughly the same range as ten-meter ham radio for the same power level, though CB is legally limited to only four watts of output power, while hams may operate on ten meters at up to 1 kW.
So why is CB radio used for communication between truckers and other motorists, while ham radio (so far as I know) is not? Are ham rigs too unwieldy to fit in a truck cab?
Not at all. There are mobile HF rigs that are as small as (if not smaller than) any CB rig. The reason CB is so prevalent amongst truckers and the general motoring populace is that there is no license requirement, unlike ham radio. Simple as that. Plus CB rigs tend to be MUCH cheaper (and crappier) than the typical ham rig.
I believe that there are also marine frequencies in the HF bands where only a station licence is required rather than an operator license. Similar to operation of an aircraft radio in their assigned band.
And of course there is the marine VHF band where no license is required.
The federal government established the “Amateur Radio Service” way back in the early part of the 20th century. I emphasize SERVICE rather than hobby because that’s what it’s called. Sure many, or perhaps most, hams treat it like a hobby, but it’s still a service. If it wasn’t a service we wouldn’t have been as successful as we ae at keeping and obtaining slices of the radio specturm.
Paul in Saudi
In my experience, you are, in part correct, yet I would not exactly say the hobby is dying. There are a large number of young people coming in, any of the test sessions I have attended attest to this, not unusual to see teens or even pre teens get their first licenses. My daughter got hers at 15 (non-white and certainly non-male) and both my sons will probably have theirs within the year. Yet as you noted, many old timers pass away every year.
There are many clubs that actively seek out people interested in getting into Ham radio and will go to great lengths to welcome new members. Yet there is an attitude held by some old timers that the new operators don’t have the experience and didn’t pay their dues, read that as didn’t build their own equipment and can’t copy Morse code at 35 words per minuet thru heavy interference and thus are unworthy of their time, and the title of Ham.
As was mentioned by Chefguy, we are a little…peculiar, but that seems to hold true with people pursuing many special interests, computer geeks, for example.
One of the two clubs I belong to holds licensing classes at least once a year and as bbbill mentioned, we activley seek members, the younger the better.
Some hams think that the written test given today is easy compared to the one they took back in the '50s. But theirs didn’t cover satillite operation, digital modes, and maybe not even transistors. Things change over time.
Many traditional activities have suffered declining membership over the years. How many younger folks are attracted to model railroading, and model aircraft for example? I used to be active in model aircraft, and the magazines have been lamenting about declining interest for years.
Amateur radio was a prooving ground for many things we take for granted today:
Voice communications
text chat
e-mail
cell phones
fm communications
Q.E.D., why are you only a tech?
'Cause I’m a lazy, lazy man who doesn’t feel like learing Code. I can pass the Extra class written test easily enough. Maybe one day I’ll get around to it.
Lousy HamCall told on me, didn’t it? Grumble, grumble…
You do know that the just concluded World Radio Conference dropped the code requirement for HF don’t you? But it’s still up to the member nations to keep or drop for their own nationals. IIRC, the Swiss have already decided to drop the Morse requirement. We don’t know what the FCC will do in the USA. I think the ARRL is asking for comments, or plans to do so.
73 de WØGOM
Yes, I’d heard this. However there seems to be a large block of the Amateur community against the idea of dropping the code requirement–yes, even Ham radio has conservatives. 
I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
Rico, I knew that we lived close to each other, but I did not realise we lived that close!
You must be a very good man to have around in an emergency. I recall after getting the family dug out of the house, and checking on the neighbors I went outside to assess the damage, and I started counting fires. One to the east, one to the north and one to the west (the one by your house) I’ll swear that by this time not more than 10-12 minutes had elapsed since the quake. If you had already gotten on the air and reported the fire, you did not let any grass grow under your feet.
Not having a ham handy, later in the day I managed to get a dial tone, and use a WATTS trunk (800 number) to call my headquarters in New Jersey. I got the dept admin on the phone and gave her a list of names and numbers to call. I think a local ham would have been much easier.
So I guess that the next time I go shopping at HOWS I’ll have to wave to you as I go by your house. 
Bbill-
I know my post was a genralization. I know there are many Elmers out there. I regret I never found one when I was looking.
A friend of mine told me recently that she had read an article about how the hardcore techies are starting to move away from computers and into ham radio because there are just too many nontechnical people in the computer world these days and it just doesn’t have the hardcore techie appeal it did years ago. I wish I had a cite for this. I hope it’s true.
Interest in ham radio, and hobby electronics in general, has been declining for years and I’d hate like damn to see it die out. I doubt it will ever go away completely but there has to be a certain “critical mass” of participants to keep the manufacturers building cheap, high-tech radios, etc. It scares me to think that eventually nobody will be able to make money selling the gear any more, so they’ll stop, and then the already-bare ranks of amateur radio operators will be reduced to those hardcore homebrewers who can build their own equipment and then there won’t be enough hams around to resist political pressure to farm out the spectrum to commercial interests.
I got my license when I was 18. I went inactive for a bunch of years but I just recently updated my info with the FCC and got my license back and started working 2 meters again. I’m going to start relearning Morse code just for fun and maybe upgrade from technician plus to extra class, buy some new gear, and start enjoying the hobby again.
pestie
Wecome back, we need more like you!
Yeah, welcome back! I visit my folks in South Florida at Christmas. Are you anywhere near Ft. Lauderdale?
de WØGOM
Ham here, Tech licenced.
Anyone else rabidly into Motorola radios? I love 'em, most hams hate 'em.
Not putting call to maintain anonymity. Will share with active Chicago area hams, tho.
Mostly old military here, WWII thru Vietnam, only modern rig is 2m set in car.
When I took my novice test I just wrote down the dots and dits and then transposed them, won’t work at general speed. I’m kinda sorry I let my license lasp
The only speed given now is 5 WPM. so if you have credit for that, all you need is the general or extra written test. And I don’t believe that will let you copy the sounds and then transpose. So I’ve been told anyway.