Do i need to get a cb?

Just consider the difference between "need" and "is a good tool to have in the box". I probably use my CB less often than 97% of drivers here, but I wouldn't want to be on the road without one, particularly in bad weather. That reason alone is enough to have one, IMHO.

 

Get a cb. Get a good antenna. It is going too help you get around situations that could make for an unpleasant day. You will also get plenty of educational info from the truck stop professors. Get a Galaxy with double digits, well, because they are the best. Kick It Back

 

Unless one is actually deity, there is no way to predict everything. But good route planning will reduce the risk. And most times, by checking DOT websites and such, you can determine there is construction going on a particular road and then PLAN to avoid it and the usual backups. Or, if there has been a high amount of water runnoff and some road is experiencing flooding and lane restrictions. And determining which route, in all that mess, is the most efficient in the number of miles and time management. I keep several state DOT apps on my smartphone to check these things. I use Google, Mapquest, and other sources to play "what if" with different routes, travel times, etc and verify those routes with the road atlas. Then there is the GPS routing I use to compliment this. I also use the National Weather Service site to look at current and predicted weather along my route to maybe change the route or time on delivery to compensate. Combine all of that with where I can find the cheapest fuel since I am paying the bills. Now all of this is what I mean by route planning. Ya know... the things that most drivers don't think to do till later when they wish they had. Maybe that is why I always make my deliveries on time, and my out of route miles, for the last decade, has averaged UNDER 4%.

Your view is way too myopic. I get the feeling you are just trying to be contentious about all of this. You seem to be avoiding offering viable solutions.

 

I'll second what most everyone here said that yes you should get one when you go out. If you lived close I would just toss one your way

 

Yup. Thanks for 31s all the way to nashville. Cb saved me time. I was headed for home time

Sent from somewhere out there

 

Hit up Craigslist or Ebay... no sense in spending real money on something that has become practically useless. CB is now for talking to shippers and receivers and maybe the Cat scale people at the truck stop.. other than that, its an annoyance. The best radio I think I ever had was an old 23 channel Cobra I got at a garage sale for $10.00..

 

Yes and no!

I take that as it's okay to use a smart phone with a GPS app or something related along them lines. I don't know if it's possible yet but communicating and dispatching?

But to the OP don't rush it. Money is tight and the trucker toys will come slowly. They are highly useful while driving plus many customers rely on them. They'll call you on the CB and tell you you are empty, come get your bills.

But even at that they will come get you.it's not like you have to go right now and buy one. Try to make it your first purchase in the first month.

There's a whole bunch of people that quit driving. Many will pawn their CB because they are unemployed. So check the pawn shops for a good deal. You can talk the store down too. Ask them what they will take for it. Usually it's a few more dollars than the initial loan. Ebay is another source. Then you always run across drivers hard up for money advertising on the CB. But you need a CB before you get them deals. I bought a Galaxy 959 for $50 one time. I really liked that radio.

 

You can find some great deals on radios on eBay if your patient. Cobra 29, 25 would be what to look for as well as some uniden PC68 or 78's


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Been there a few times, & I always write my cell # on the white card & they just call me when I have a door. That place is quite a cluster......

 

There is no law against using a smartphone's gps -- the google version having a real-time traffic indicator on the bottom left of the display. green = 55mph+ for the next 60-100 miles, yellow indicates a slowdown to ~35 somewhere on your route, orange indicates ~20mph slowdown, & red means a <10mph section. 1 swipe of the finger advances the display so you can see where & how long the trouble is (also has icons for constuction etc).

I used it this afternoon on westbound i10 crossing the mississippi -- cb traffic & dot reader boards said bridge closed use 110, but on the google navigator display I could see the bridge change from uncolored to yellow & then green a good 10 minutes before the cb chatter caught up. Meanwhile all you heard was eastbound asking what the scalehouse was doing, some jerkwad tuning a cb on 19 (or bleeding over) saying auuuuudio, audiooooooo, auuuuudiiioooooooo, westbounders just hitting the slowdown asking whats going on (& being incorrectly told bridge closed), & a pair of marble-mouthed southerners heatedly arguing over which regional english bastardization was more 'American.'