Is a CB Radio really necessary to have?

Usually it's channel 19. Heading out west they use 17. Shippers/receivers all post the channel before you enter

 

No. You don't need it at all. If you need to find out something, just ask your phone. Your phone will tell you everything you will ever need to know. In fact, the company you are looking at will probably frown on you having a CB in the first place. Why start out on their bad side? Good luck with the serious amounts of research!

And, if you don't have a CB, please stay on the interstate.

 

The CB is dead. Even places that allowed you to check in by CB only now call or text you. I would get one if I were you since the only time people talk in it is when there is a traffic backup. Some shippers ask if I have CB and I say no since it sucks listening to the CB for your truck to be called when they spit out truck names every minute.

 

True the CB is dead. They are still useful for traffic updates. As a new driver you should be more concerned about getting down the road in one piece first. Don't worry about a radio. That in my opinion is dead last on the list

 

I see trolls, they are everywhere.


Get a cheap $100 cb, it'll save you headaches

 

Hi Truckermania, well, I've been out of the loop for a while, but I believe channel 19 is still the "road channel". Back in the day, a CB was as important as working trailer brakes, although nowadays , you'll find many truckers don't use them as much, and there is a lot of garbage on 19, but they still have an on-off button, and as others have stated, many warehouses use them to notify you when a dock opens up. Also, in an emergency, when a road is closed, and law enforcement shuffles you off the highway, the detours are poorly planned,if at all and a CB can be very valuable in finding a way back to the highway.

 

nope its not necessary at all and here's my reasoning.

1.) Traffic updates. If you have an android or iphone, simply open up your map program that came by default with your phone, turn on your gps feature, and you can see if there's traffic delays on any of the highways or streets, they show red for congested, yellow for slow, green for no delays. You don't need updates on the cb. You should be focused on driving. not the cb.

2.) Backing at Truck Stops. The last thing you want or need is some or many idiots yelling at you on your cb while you're trying to back up, it's a distraction and that can be frustrating. If you're struggling with your backing, all you need to do is get and look. Take your time and focus. Not listening to someone try and direct you over the cb that may or may not have the slightest clue about how to direct someone else's backing.

3.) It's nothing more than a bunch of electronic noise nowadays. People acting like an e-thug, thinking they're the biggest baddest dude on the planet, and they know everything, and truckers whining about their pay, about DOT regulations, and their hours, and anything and everything under the sun. DO you really want or need that negativity in your life? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Nothing more than a bunch of foul-mouthed, negative, big man, little pee-pee syndromed children on there.

4.) Weather...you don't need Jim Bob the base station trucker telling you there's a tornado on the ground, when it facts it's still only a wall cloud and has yet to produce a funnel. Your iphone or android phone are capable of radar apps that can and do show you where bad areas of weather are.


about the only benefit for a cb I see...is when you pull into a shipper or consignee and they have a sign that says "Tune to Channel 3", so you dont have to get out of the truck and ask questions, but most places dont even have CB's themselves, so really, no reason to have one.