The American Trucker language

Discussion in 'Questions To Truckers From The General Public' started by KapiPL, Jun 29, 2008.

  1. Working Class Patriot

    Working Class Patriot Road Train Member

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    I have to retract part of my statement:biggrin_2552:

    Oregon considers drivers as "Rolling ATMs" :biggrin_25523::biggrin_2554::biggrin_25521:
     
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  3. KapiPL

    KapiPL Bobtail Member

    And one question..
    In USA trucks are driving many people not from USA. And how they can understand you? If you hear on CB someone talking not in your "trucker language" you give him a normal answer or you try to teach him some new words?
    I'm good in English in my school, but I can't understand your language ;P it's too hard
     
  4. d-man57

    d-man57 Light Load Member

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    Here in America most of us just speak English. Most of the non English speaking drivers that come here use a different channel on the CB for their language. Most Americans like myself, feel if you are going to work in this country you need to speak English. I speak some Spanish, but like you i don't understand everything said in that language.
     
  5. Muleskinner

    Muleskinner <strong>"Shining Beacon of Chickenlights"</strong>

    I know a bit of spanish too,unfortunately it's all the cuss words.:biggrin_255:
     
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  6. AfterShock

    AfterShock Road Train Member

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    Well, KapiPL --- if you don't understand English, I'd say you're doing pretty good!
    I understand what you're saying.

    If I were your English teacher, I'd give you a high grade, like an A.
    YeS I would. :yes2557: :biggrin_255:
     
  7. KapiPL

    KapiPL Bobtail Member

    But i mean.. how can the drivers from other countries understand the "TRUCKER LANGUAGE" i mean.. like in 1 post:
    "chicken truck, 10-4, 10-33, lizzard, lumpers, double cluth"?
    d-man how long you were learning americans truckers lingo?
     
  8. Muleskinner

    Muleskinner <strong>"Shining Beacon of Chickenlights"</strong>

    I can't answer for Dman(gouge:biggrin_25519:),but everybody learns something new everyday....It takes a lifetime and by then you ain't no good to nobody..But you are smart as hell.:biggrin_2559:
     
  9. AfterShock

    AfterShock Road Train Member

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    I don't know if it's that we "learn" trucker language as much as it is we make it up as we go along. :yes2557:

    If you ever take a trip to the United States, and I was driving a Big truck, I'd sure like to take you along for a ride. With as well as you're doing with English, I think you'd catch on to trucker talk real quick. :biggrin_25525: :biggrin_25519:

    Here are a few more ----
    Alligator -- a blown tire tread on the highway.
    Termator (Tomato) freighter --- Big trucks in Central California that haul tomatoes from the field to be processed.
    Third-Pick --- tomatoes made into Ketchup because of their appearance (not good enough for table quality)
    A Big truck with a large sleeper berth --- is a "house on wheels".
    A Peterbilt Big truck --- a Pete, or Petercar.
    A Peterbilt with a Cat engine --- a Petercat.
    A Cummins engine --- a come-along.
    A Freightliner Big truck -- a Freight-shaker, or Cornbinder.
    A Kenworth Big truck --- a KW or Kenny.

     
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2008
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  10. d-man57

    d-man57 Light Load Member

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    I grew up around truckers, my next door neighbor was one and had a uncle who drove them. I used to help my neighbor clean his truck when he would get back in from a run, on my 17th birthday he gave me a used Royce CB setup, a license form, and a little book with the CB rules and codes. So now i had a CB, some trucker lingo i learned these guys and was ready to go on the air. The problem was, living in a rural area and waiting on a CB conversation was like watching grass grow, wasn't much talking on the CB back then. My buddies and i would sit at the end of the small town close to where i lived and wait for a trucker to drive by just to have a short talk before he went out of range. I Always tried to impress them with my lingo and tried to sound like another trucker, I'm sure they knew better but they always went along with it, it was a lot of fun. I remember the fear they put in you of losing your license, we used to say a few cuss words on there then turn it off real fast thinking there were CB police around somewhere. The lingo is something you learn from other drivers, i hear new stuff all the time and some of it i have no idea what they are talking about.
     
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  11. Lurchgs

    Lurchgs Road Train Member

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    For me, Aftershock hit it right straight on the head. Must be all that practice he gets from livin' in the land of the midnight shake.

    Anybody who's followed my posts around here knows I'm a wanton maker-upper-of-things-to-call-other-things.

    Of course, it did me good when it came time to test for my CDL-A and I had to the do pre-trip. Lots of things like Butt-can (air-brake spring can), coily-snakes (air and electric lines between cab and trailer), etc all came to the fore.

    It probably wouldn't be so bad, but it seems I never use the same invented term twice.

    However, nobody's complained. If everybody is talking about the same thing (trucks and trucking), with a tiny bit of experience, you can pick up the meaning from the context of the conversation - even if the mutton-head talking is inventing half the language as he goes along.

    Where you'd be completely lost is just looking at the single word or phrase.

    "Chicken Truck" is rather ... obscure, which is true of most slang, come to think of it.

    "Boy, howdy, take a look at that chicken truck! More lights and shine than all of Las Vegas" Still, not a definitive description, but you already know it's 1) a truck and 2) covered with lights and (probably) chrome.
     
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