Please explain to a rookie trucker like me why i need a CB radio.

I agree with many posts here. I have one but I don't listen to it much. Its on, but usually squelched down. Now I try to keep it on & turned up but there is so much vulgar and unnecessary noise on there today that, sometimes it gets turned down. While I do keep it on and turned up, I keep it squelched down pretty tight so I only hear someone pretty close to me. I don't care about listening to 2 guys yapping for 10 miles, or others with high powered radios 10 miles down the road.
I, too, just got mine back up after about a year of not having it. The speaker fell and pulled the wires out of the box, so I just never pulled it out replaced it.

I prefer to have a nice clean radio that will get me a mile or two down the road.
If I have something going on with my truck/trailer/load, I'll have it in the rare event that someone hollers at me to let me know.
Traffic issues: I like to know what's going on, try to get an idea of the seriousness and how long it will be.
If I see someone having a issue, I'll holler twice, if they dont answer, I leave it alone.
I have it for mostly my benefit, again, in the rare event that someone is out there to give me info.
I'll say that I rarely key the mic. I'll give traffic info etc, but only once or twice per incident. What the problem is, which lane to be in and if I have any idea about timing, etc.
Last but certainly not least... If there's a naked lady back behind me in the left lane headed in the same direction.

Again, mine don't stay on all the time but that's usually due to non-sence on there. It's definately a useful tool. I'd rather have one than not but, I have done without one in the past. I do try to keep it on & turned up but it's squelched pretty tight to keep down the skip and distant non-sence.

I have had my radios peaked in the past but, I learned years ago on this forum that, if you want power, its best to invest in an amp, even a small one, and keep your radio tuned (not peaked). It's my opinion that tuning a radio is like driving your car wide open all the time. Its just hard on it and it wont be long before its gonna start failing. Don't stress your radio. Let it perform where it should and buy yourself an amp and let it do the power thing. And CB shops are just like truck drivers, there are experienced one's who have the knowledge and experienced operators. Just because its a CB shop dont mean the guy in the seat knows what he's doing. Put forth a little effort to find a good shop and let him work on your stuff, or else you'll find yourself spending money on it all the time.