Omaha.
more or less…
10-33 Actual bear in air.
10-34 Can’t unchain wallet.
10-35 Hot enough for ya?
10-36 Ghost truck on highway.
10-37 Ask me about my grandchildren.
10-38 Outsider blabbing about auto-drive system.
10-39 I love you, gay buddy.
10-40 Taxes due.
I didn’t know there was a code for that! Does it happen enough that a special code is needed?
On this very night, ten years ago, along this same stretch of road…
That song really made an impression on me when it came out. I clearly remember playing it on a jukebox when I was just 7 or 8 years old. I can’t believe that was over 40 years ago…
I’ve always been too “scientific” to fully enjoy it. If the 'Duck is in Jersey, he can’t be talking to Pig Pen in Omaha. The radios don’t have the range. Sheesh - even 10 year olds know this! 
I’ve always preferred Wolf Creek Pass. It’s a better story. But, I was so disappointed. When I was an adult, and moved West, I made a side trip over WCP. I found that, after you make it through the switchbacks that looked like malaria germs, and the tunnel with clearance to the 12 foot line, that it is a looooooong stretch of flat road before you get to the feed store in Pagosa Springs. There was plenty of time to stop the truck. reality is so disappointing!
Pssst! Illegal amplifier in the truck, Good Buddy. 
Also, when atmospheric conditions are right, it is possible to bounce radio signals off the ionosphere, or “skip” them, several thousand miles away.
Both of which are against FCC regulations, but I won’t tell if you won’t, 10-Roger?
I never knew mc call did wolf creek pass too until F.U shakespere told me last night in the “your obscure c&w music” thread
Your knowledge of “Phantom Trucker Ballads” is sadly remiss, I fear. I surprised there aren’t “sub-codes”, ie 10-36.4 (rain and fog), 10-36.7 (event anniversary) etc. etc.
So, the story of large Marge is a 10-36 with both 10-36.4 and 10-36.7.
Phantom 309 is a 10-36 with 10-36.3 (rain, no fog) and 10-36.7, plus 10-36.8 (paranormal souvenir).
At least Black Bear Road has a sign at the beginning that says, “You don’t have to be crazy to drive this road-but it helps.” 
We got interested in the McCall oevre when my wife and I found tapes of his at a Salvation Army. It was Big Bear Road, and I believe a greatest hits compilation. He made an entire career out of congenial fantasies of American masculinity. Even back then, before the term ‘toxic masculinity’ had currency it was refreshing to see these fantasies were free of misogyny, racism and menace. I’m going to hate finding out McCall went Tea Party, or is now rooting for Trump.
My dad had a couple of McCall’s LPs during the singer’s heyday, and I spent a not-insignificant part of my childhood listening to them. I don’t know anything about McCall’s (*nee *Bill Fries’) politics other than he served as mayor of Ouray, Colorado (where he still lives) – but I can’t imagine him leaning too far to the right, if at all.
The 1975 album Black Bear Road was his second, and included Convoy, in addition to the titular song (Black Bear Road does exist, and it does have a sign that states “You don’t have to be crazy to drive this road – but it helps”) as well as *The Silverton *among its hits, but it wasn’t a greatest hits compilation. His first album, Wolf Creek Pass, released earlier in 1975, included the titular song as well as Old Home Filler-up an’ Keep on a-Truckin’ Cafe (they charted in 1974) and Classified, which is one of my favorite CW McCall songs (the line “the dog’s name was Frank” cracks me up every time). All of these songs, as well as others of McCall’s, are worth a listen – he doesn’t so much sing as he does tell stories.
I don’t know how I missed cochrane’s reference to the sign a couple posts above mine – apologies.
I like to think so, because I find his work charming. But a lot of ground has shifted. Charlie Daniels has gone from being the Uneasy Rider to being quite the same kind of guy his young self was afraid of. On the other hand, many of the conservatives that railed against feminism in the 70s still hate feminism, though somehow they have acceded to feminist notions that women had equal rights under the law, and were allowed to have careers because their own flock demanded this change, and many conservative Christian women have gone into careers that they were supposed to be unqualified for or only against their proper roles even interested in, but the conservatives never admitted this capitulation meant they were wrong. No, Feminism is still wrong no matter how much of it they now hold as simply common sense in the teeth of how they rebuked those same ideas decades ago. Back in the 70’s, the majority of Christians believed that to get involved in politics was to fail Jesus’ admonition to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. Now, few Christians would dream of not applying their religion to politics.
If you really want to geek out on obscure McCall stuff, here are the original Old Home Bread commercials. I had no idea there were so many of them.
(This is all 12 of them. I only posted the first one upthread)
I think burpo was making a joke. 10-36 means “correct time”.
burpo nicked that piece of nonsense from a Simpsons episode. “Actual bear in air” cracked me up.
Puh-leeze! Pig Pen isn’t in Omaha, his 10-20 (destination) is Omaha. If he was already at his destination, he’d be shacked up with a waitress from the truck stop, not gassing on his CB.
Not only that, but nowadays Pagosa Springs is just another hipster tourist town, full of outfitters and mountain bike rentals. Good luck finding a feed store.
Nope, “what’s your 20?” is “what’s your current location?” Always has been, and definitely was when that song came out.
Nope. Old CBer here, from the 70s. 10-20, or “What’s your 20?” means “What’s your location?” or “Hey, where you at?” So Pig Pen was in Omaha.