If you don't run with a CB on......

The CB radio can be a great tool in this business. There are lots of people(notice I didn't say drivers) that constantly abuse the radio. They fail to see that radio in a privalage, and not a right. I get tired of all the crap on 19, all the toys, cussing, advertising by shops, and other idiots!
There are lots of drivers that go down the road, listening to their fm or satelite radio, getting so engrossed in what they are listening to, they forget they are driving a truck!
This is not a vacation, it is a job.

 

The CB radio is a tool for something you can not see. But if you need it because your trailer is on fire or you're blocking the road then you just don't need to be behind the wheel. I blame the CDL schools and the companies that have driver trainers with 6 months experience for taking the professionism out of the job.

 

Professionalism, comes from the chain of command. Becoming a trainer in six months is the product of budget management. Not repairing your truck and dragging a flat or blown hub to the next stop or nearest terminal is part of this budget management. A professional driver can not train under budget management systems, therefore trainers only need six months experience to train new drivers. The CB is a problem for those in the chain of command because new drivers and trainers start to acquire knowledge that is not part of budget management. Honestly I have had fleet managers tell me to tear out those pages on safety from the employee manual and do what I am told. A trainer with six months experience does not see the danger of our job; if they did the mike on the CB would never leave the holder.

 

Sorry, but I have to throw this in here. Today I ripped the rear gears outta the old dump bucket and was sitting on the side of the road waiting for the mechanic to show up, and I watched no less than 15 big trucks drive by and not 1 said a word to me. What ever happened to proffesional courtesy? I was all prepared with something clever to say in response, but alas, I was left holding a mic handle and nothing to do with it. That just really burns me. I never, NEVER leave a truck on the side of the road without asking if he or she is alright.

 

I usually ask, but every truck I've seen on the side of the road the past few weeks, I've seen the driver outside of the truck. Hard to talk to someone who's not by the CB. If conditions permit, I'll stop, but that's not usually the case.

 

most dumps i have been in didnt have a CB, so i dont even try to talk to them

but any other truck on the side gets asked if they are ok

 

i leave mine on-why i don't know,,,seems to be so much BS coming out of the speaker that it has left a stain on the floor below it!

 

That is awful.....But it's just another sign of the times we are living in.

And in response to the gentleman talking about "trainers"....A lot of us on here didn't even know what the hell a"training engineer" "trainer" or "fleet manager" was till we signed up on this board(and couldn't of cared less.Don't feel any smarter for knowing it).OUR trainer was some mean azzed old man who would threaten to mash your head like a zit if you messed his truck up and when HE felt ready to turn you loose on your own with his truck,that's when you were turned loose.Those old "true drivers",not steering wheel holders, NEVER turned their radio off that I can remember and if you were running coupled up with them,yours better be on too when they hollered at you.I've learned a TON about trucking over the radio and my radio has made me money in a lot of ways over time.A person just has to be smart enough to seperate the horse nuggets from the real nuggets when you are taking advice.Obviously most of these new steering wheel holders aren't smart enough to know the difference.