Is a CB Radio really necessary to have?

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4017519]See, this is definitely an us vs. them thread. The younguns just don't know what to do without their technology. They were raised with it, so it's natural to use it. I'm(as many others here) old school, and quite frankly, I feel our country is in the mess it's in ( socially) because of this. [/QUOTE]

I can agree with this sentiment. But I still love to get out in the outdoors and leave my technology at home or in the car, while I go spend a few days in the backcountry up in the mountains or go fishing, or go one of my photography expeditions.


[QUOTE="semi" retired;4017519]No interaction, and they are the 1st ones to scream bloody murder if heaven forbid, their smartphones give out. And don't say it doesn't happen. [/QUOTE]

hah, true on the screaming bloody murder. my phone just crapped out on me last week in OKC, OK, and I couldn't get a new one till Albuquerque, but I survived 14 hours without it lol. thankfully i had points on my TA Platinum card to get a day's worth of free internet, to connect my laptop to, so I could get on craigslist and buy another phone.

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4017519]In a disaster, and a tower goes down, a CB will save your life. For 25 years, I never had any kind of connection with the outside world, except a CB, and I had to make decisions on what to do, based on common sense, not who I could call. [/quote]

and if we get hit by an EMP blast, your cb will be just as useless as my smartphone. the only thing that will work is shortwave radio and morse code. if we get hit by nukes, none of us will have much of anything being discussed on here to worry about.

during most disasters, phone lines are congested and networks are super loaded with users trying to call in and out, but you can still send out text messages because they operate on the data side which is typically less congested.

as for decisions...i still make most of them on my own on a daily basis. do i go this route? or do i go that route? do i go through the mountains? do i go around? technology often makes it easier for me to make those decisions. I can get up to the minute forecasts on severe weather projections, I can get DOT information on road closures, delays, accidents, construction, or acts of nature like tornadoes, mudslides, floods, avalanches. CB only has so much distance on it.

but if a disaster hits, the last thing I'm gonna be worrying about is driving my truck, I'm gonna be thinking about either going into survival mode or search and rescue mode. to hell with the smartphone or the cb and to hell with the truck.

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4017519]And I'm sorry, but X-Country's attitude sounds so typical of people today, my way or no way, everybody is stupid except me, crawl out of your cave, dear, some of us LIKE the way it used to be, and when, not if, your truck breaks down out of phone range, good luck trying to get help. Back in the day, if a trucker broke down, the CB was alive with help. I'm appalled to see what has become of our society today.[/QUOTE]

I'm on qualcomm with e-logs, I dont have to worry about calling for help. Satellite internet built into the truck, i send a macro 24, help is on the way. it might take a little bit, but I have a camera, a laptop and a hard drive full of movies to keep me occupied, and plenty of books to read until helps arrives. and food in the cooler too.

technology is the way of today and the future, it's only going to get better as time marches on. cb's are all but obsolete.

 

And for the record I'm going on 27, this will be my 6th year... I'm not against technology. I use Google Maps on my phone in Satellite mode to survey the location im picking up and delivering to. But I got alot of old school tendencies from my uncles & dad who had/have over 90 years of trucking experience. I know how valuable it is to have a radio in your truck and what to expect from it. I've watched it save them time & trouble and in my short career it has save me time & trouble. If the anti-cb guys dont want one because " They dont like interacting with other truckers" than cool. But there's not another device to a trucker that is more valuable than his cb.

And I'm willing to argue that to the point of no return

 

And this is EXACTLY what I do. And it hasn't failed me yet.

 

Happy Trails Truckermania from a fellow North Carolinian....I live just north of Asheboro NC....

 

my blue parrot headset has a button to ignore the call or hang up, but my mother knows not to call me until after 8 pm anyhow, lol. usually im in a rest area or truck stop by then!

I have the ability on my Samsung Galaxy S3 where I can refuse all voicecalls but keeping my data connection and gps connection active, and when I'm driving, I usually have all calls refused. leave me a voicemail, I'll call ya back.

no you won't see me on youtube. and yes I know how to read the atlas. Why do i need to waste 20-30 minutes planning a trip when the Commercial Grade GPS in my truck does it in 40 seconds???

first off...I would have checked the forecast as I do every single morning. I check it where I'm currently at, i check it along the route I am going, and I check it at my destination (be it a point on my route, or the consignee or split/swap).

Had I seen an ice storm forecasted for Atlanta, I'd have gotten as close to Atlanta as possible before it hit, gotten to a rest area or truck stop, stopped and shut it down till it all blew over.

I'd have monitored the storm on my smartphone (placed in it's windshield cradle mount of course) and been running a radar program called pykl3 (for android). once the precip started approaching my location, that would have been it for me. freezing rain is not something to mess around with. I wont even drive in it. with all the advance forecasts, radar on your phone and all the technology out there...there's just no excuse for what happened in Atlanta to have happened at all...it's just plain ignorance on the part of every driver out there...commercial or non-commercial.

 

Without a CB how are you going to know where to get your drugs and lot lizards when you pull into West Memphis lol. FYI the drug dealers there are actually cops.

 

I have a smart phone with google maps. I have the Garmin 760 dezl with live traffic updates. I have an iPad mounted that shows maps with traffic and a weather overlay. Great tools and I use them daily.

However, none of those devices has ever told me which lane to be in before I got to the traffic jam. They have never warned me about a chicken coop being open at 2 am when I may or may not have been heavy. They never alerted me to the trucker across the lot with a blue parrot for sale for $25 bucks when mine went out earlier that same day. My CB did all of that.

CB is just another tool. They can be had cheaply and most trucks are prewired with power and antennas. Frankly they are a cheap tool, and if your going to work you should bring all of your tools.

BTW, I don't know what kind of atlas Brianne has but she needs a refund on it. Every atlas I have ever seen shows low bridges and scale houses.

 

She has one of the " new ones "......don't need that info.......

 

The problem with this statement is its been proven time and time again that you shouldnt solely rely on GPS for navigation as they have and will often send you down roads with weight restrictions, you never rely on technology to get around. Your own statements show you use it to get around and that you dont use an atlas at all. Im not sure you do know how to read an atlas, seeing how everyone I have ever looked at have weight restriction roads, height restriction roads. Some GPS's this might very well be the case, however there are many documented threads stating others with issues. In the end I do wish you the best however, CB radio is far from obsolete, as there is a such thing called HAM radios which are ever more popular today as the CB was in years gone by. Its a proven fact that a CB will and can help to save lives. And when you get into areas where there is no cell reception, you could very well need one. I hope you dont ever need one and are able to escape getting into trouble where you wont need it. Its just a tool like anything else, and none should be solely relied upon more then the other.