Is a CB Radio really necessary to have?

OK, Mtn, easy now, don't get your blood all angryed up(kidding). You make great points, but I've found young people really don't care about the past. Not sure why that is, when I was learning the ropes, I talked to every old timer I could find, and it made me a better driver. At least she kinda has the right attitude, as obviously she 's not a wimp. My 1st OTR experience, my friend had a '76 KW with that sleeper,( and torsion bar suspension, I might add) we called it the "coffin". Not sure many drivers would be comfortable in a sleeper like that now. Sit down, have a cup of coffee, she'll be fine.

 

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4022537]OK, Mtn, easy now, don't get your blood all angryed up(kidding). You make great points, but I've found young people really don't care about the past. Not sure why that is, when I was learning the ropes, I talked to every old timer I could find, and it made me a better driver. At least she kinda has the right attitude, as obviously she 's not a wimp. My 1st OTR experience, my friend had a '76 KW with that sleeper,( and torsion bar suspension, I might add) we called it the "coffin". Not sure many drivers would be comfortable in a sleeper like that now. Sit down, have a cup of coffee, she'll be fine.[/QUOTE]

I am so calm people would think I sleep with my eyes wide open. Better not say that out loud the government monkeys may come up with a medical test to see if drivers do sleep with their eyes open. Kids today think they have it so tough like not being able to call when you are out of range of a signal. I would love to stick some of them into "Old School " the name of my KW it is a show truck now but they would learn a lot in a short period of time they can forget the GPS, the Cel phone the XM radio, "Old School " is 24 volt. Doesn't even have a cigarette lighter. You made your own boredom buster with the CB and bs-ing with other drivers. Truck stops were truck stops, usually had a coffee row where the drivers would sit and bs for hours. You knew the truck stop owner and their families, you got real home cooked meals not the junk food the Pilot/ FJ's think drivers enjoy today. Needed to call for an appointment or call dispatch for your next load "no sat to get all your messages from" you used the pay phone at the truck stop. Men had bathrooms and showers we could get a shower if we knew the truck stop owners well they would let us use theirs otherwise a shower was paying for a hotel or a late night bath in a lake or a stream. You learned to do a good sponge bath in your truck which is yet another use of the stainless bucket I mentioned in another thread. Back then you could heat the water by putting the bucket against the exhaust. that is also how you cooked meals or heated up canned goods. No microwaves, or electric power in trucks back then, no refigerator, a colemen camping cooler tied back of the bunk was your ice chest. You did not have internet to entertain and inform, you could not go on a site like this and ask questions and learn, you learned by talking to older drivers or learning by doing it and finding what worked and what did not.

 

Yes. A CB is a must. I was in the middle of that pile up on 80 in Wyoming a few weeks ago. I heard it on the CB and managed to get stopped without hitting anyone and without getting hit. Of the 20 or so trucks in my imidiate area, there were 2 that were not damaged... my truck and the truck in front of me.

 

Still trying to figure out why some call those "the good old days".

 

Hey joseph, HA, good one. When you talk to people that lived in that time, they'll say there wasn't much "good" about it, but it was just the way it was. Listen to this, I had a boss, old timer, who said, before anti-freeze was used, on cold nights at the end of the day, they would drain the water out of the truck, bring it in the house, and the next morning, pour it back in the truck. How'd you like to do THAT everyday!

 

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4023874]Hey joseph, HA, good one. When you talk to people that lived in that time, they'll say there wasn't much "good" about it, but it was just the way it was. Listen to this, I had a boss, old timer, who said, before anti-freeze was used, on cold nights at the end of the day, they would drain the water out of the truck, bring it in the house, and the next morning, pour it back in the truck. How'd you like to do THAT everyday![/QUOTE]
That's crazy! But I'll bet you anything there are some of those outfits who do that today!

 

We had less DOT BS to deal with and we actually made a decent living

 

There's an app for that!!!'

 

I was gonna say that!