Here’s your guide to trucker slang!

If you’re just starting out in trucking then you might have a few questions about the different words you’ve been hearing on the radio or at truck stops. Here is a brief guide to help you with some of the terms you might hear.

• Kojak with a Kodak: Police that are using a radar gun at the side of the road
• Boy Scouts: Another term for the state police
• Clean Shot: When the road up ahead is free of any obstructions, construction, or police
• Parking Lot: Is what you get when you have a traffic jam
• Rubberneckers: Drivers that are interested in looking off the road, typically at an accident scene
• Bear in the Air: When the highway speed is checked by an airplane or helicopter
• Bunny Hopper: Would be a vehicle that changes lanes constantly
• Back it down: Slow down

Here are some slang terms you might hear on the CM radio.

• Affirmative: Yes
• All locked up: Weigh Station is closed
• Bingo Cards: These cards held stamps from each state a motor carrier would operate in; these cards are no longer used and have been replaced by the Single State Registration System (SSRS).
• Bobtail: Driving the tractor only, without the trailer attached
• Bubba: What you call another trucker – friendly tone
• Bundled out: Loaded heavy, or to maximum capacity