Do you have your citizen band, aka a CB radio, handy to give a fellow driver a friendly reply? Or to share information on bad roads, what’s up ahead or just for general chat?
It’s better than a text message, a chat room or a phone tree. The CB radio has proven itself for more than seven decades dating back to the 1940s. It’s the greatest safety device in the history of trucking.
CB radios have been used mostly by private individuals in semi-trucks, motor vehicles, homes, offices, and other locations where wireless telephone service is unavailable or less convenient. A typical CB radio consists of a combined transmitter-receiver (a transceiver) and an antenna. In the United States, 40 channels, at frequencies from 26.965 to 27.225 megahertz or in the UHF range of 460 to 470 megahertz, have been allocated to CB radio. A federal limitation of power (4 watts) and limitations of antenna height restrict the range of CB radios in motor vehicles to about 15 miles and those in fixed locations to no more than 30 miles.
CB radios originated in the United States during the 1940s, when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created the Citizens Radio Service for regulating remote-control units and mobile radio telephones. The commission made the CB radio a special class of service in 1958 and permitted its use as a hobby in 1975. But many were using them as a hobby way before this – my daddy being one of them.
I can’t think of a single morning from when I was 5 years old to 2015, either waking up or having gone to bed, when my daddy wasn’t talking or communicating on his base station.
Today, I still have eight of Daddy’s CB radios after his passing. He had a couple of huge aerial rotating antennas on top of the mountain above our house and repeaters for our business. Daddy even set me up so I could talk ‘skip’ (further than I was supposed to be able to on a different frequency) to him from places like Plateau, Texas to Mountain City, Tennessee, from my truck.
The FCC only allows 4 watts. However, they haven’t regulated that too well. And a CB is also regulated to reach only 50 feet in distance. But there are available sales of up to 25 watts with no distance attached, so it leaves a gray area to many in the CB hobby world.
Who agrees with me that the 50-foot law is goofy? That won’t get you past the length of a trailer, let alone across the median. I admit there are gray areas of regulations. But I wouldn’t trade where those gray areas have taken me over six decades.
On many days it took me 2,000 miles home and on other days it let me warn drivers of iced roads and wrecks 5 miles ahead. So I will take those gray areas any day over the limited 50 feet.
The many stories I can share in this article would keep you for hours about what a CB radio brought to our home. From daddy’s friendships that he made across the “Big Pond” to family vacations with those our family met over the air waves, it was years of memories to cherish.
It not only served as a hobby but it also served in times of need. Daddy also ran a mobile CB in his personal pick up during work and could communicate with home. When I was 7, we were at our concrete plant and Daddy was using a cutting torch and grinder and got a huge sliver of steel in his eye. I freaked!
We were only a couple of miles from home and the first thing he did was tell me to call our base station at home to tell Mama what happened and that we were almost there. It not only gave her a heads up we were in enroute but she was ready to get him to the hospital. It would have turned out totally different without the ability to communicate for help.
(YES back in the 60’s nobody thought twice about loading up and heading to the house with metal in their eyes, so don’t panic it was ok).
I tell you this story because it still applies today in the trucking world. The use of a CB on the open road is crucial in times of crisis or an accident when you can’t operate a smartphone to make a call. It can also help stranded truckers and motorists and allows drivers to share warnings of accidents or other issues ahead.
In the past 10 years I have noticed that during winter there are more massive pile ups and deaths during storms. Do you think with advance warnings through CB radios many of these can be prevented? It seems as though we never experienced these pile ups and incidents 10+ years ago. But then again, everyone had a CB on, even turned down and ‘copying the mail’ just listening to the travels ahead.
As we all know the weather is so unpredictable that even the National Weather Service lives with ifs and maybes. But when you are in the moment as a truck driver, who better to relay and inform than another driver to prevent accidents or direct detours and keep themselves and others safe.
CB radios and truckers go hand in hand, or we used to, along with our very own lingo and courtesy to one another. We relayed traffic conditions, actual weather reports of highways and where there might be a bear ‘cop’ or two in our travels. It was our communication when we traveled the same path with our old friends and a perfect way to meet new ones.
Everyone is a “ratchet jaw” on a CB. We spent many nights traveling across the deserts of west Texas and Arizona to hear someone on the other end singing a tune to soothe our souls. Many tall tales and many family stories have been shared across America. Loneliness was never an issue when you felt down and out missing home. All you had to do was pick up the microphone and say, “Break 1-9 anybody got a copy?”
There always was someone there to answer, “Go ahead break” and an occasional, “You broke it, so go ahead.”
Days of the CB even helped law enforcement because they too ran CB radios in their cruisers.
There were certain times you always knew that someone had your back and watched out for us. When you ran your regular route from the Carolina’s to California and you’d hear a voice in the wee hours of the night.
“Half Pint did you leave home a little too late this trip? Back’er down before we have to meet face to face. Safe travels and see you on your way back through. And remember I’m always watching you.” You always knew the local law enforcement officer was out on the roads with you. There was no need to bridge the gap between truck drivers and law enforcement, the bridge was always open.
So today, as life itself, things have changed. CB radios are rare to find in many trucks. Truck drivers don’t have conversations across I-40 for 2,456 miles from Barstow, California to Wilmington, North Carolina. Nobody checks on another driver or motorist on the side of the road, and nobody gives ‘bear’ reports anymore.
But the biggest thing missing is the safety and camaraderie that the Citizens Band radio brought to millions of people. Friendships that lasted many of us for 20, 30, 40 or 50 years came from meeting on a CB. And providing safety from these horrible 100+ car pile ups and uncalled for deaths, safety of a motorist on the side of the road changing a tire and trucks should move over. As well as passing along information for the safety of emergency vehicles on the roadways and the safety of one another.
I plead that every truck driver purchase and put a CB in your truck! Not only for your safety but for all those around you. Especially your loved ones and those drivers who are around to protect your loved ones when you aren’t able to.
So go buy a CB so I can, “Catch you on the flip flop and send you roses” …
Until next time, from me to you … drive safely, be somebody’s smile and don’t forget your prayers!
