New To Forum; Not As New To Trucking

Yes some of those trucks that got involved in that pile up may of had a cb. I’ll play along. I can only speak for myself. I have a well peaked and tuned cb. With a quality cb antenna. That I have on at all times. Turned up. Ready to go. There are drivers who are referred to having “backup” radios because they only turn it on when they are in a backup and are asking what’s going on and how can they get to the shortcut that they are passed up 5 miles back. And as much as drivers love to spam the radio with nonsense when it comes to calling incidents in they are usually pretty good about it. So I would find it very very hard to believe that any driver involved in the pileup had their radio on and were completely taken off guard by it.

No matter how many experienced old timers you invent, it won't change the fact that common sense, and not experience, is all it takes to recognize the life-saving potential of monitoring a CB while you're driving down the road.

It may go unused 99% of the time, but that one time you need it can be the difference between life and death.

You don't need a seatbelt, until that one time you do.

You don't need a fire extinguisher, until that one time you do.

As a professional driver, it shouldn't be a matter of need.

And another top-performing driver checks-in…with a consistent and concise reply.

To be clear the “experience” we are all referring to is bearing witness to what can and does happen if the CB is not part of a drivers arsenal of safety tools.

Great reply Turtle!

No matter how many experienced old timers you invent, it won't change the fact that common sense, and not experience, is all it takes to recognize the life-saving potential of monitoring a CB while you're driving down the road.

It may go unused 99% of the time, but that one time you need it can be the difference between life and death.

You don't need a seatbelt, until that one time you do.

You don't need a fire extinguisher, until that one time you do.

As a professional driver, it shouldn't be a matter of need.

A CB is a must have. Shippers and receivers use it to call drivers to the door to load/unload. If you are in vicinity of shipper/receiver you can use it to ask for directions they most likely have one on. Good communication tool to learn whats up ahead on the highway etc etc You can even call for a lot lizard on

George you reminded me of that fact, that had slipped my mind.

It specifically reminded me of a customer in Memphis Tn. Buckman Labs. Their scale was almost in sight of the guard house. I say almost because heading out you could see the corner of the building, but the guard could not see you. They have large signs stating what channel the guard is on. They had a light system also, but when the guard can’t see you that doesn’t do much good. Without a radio you would sit there until they happened to look at the scale weight.

Last week I was behind another truck and his trailer brakes started smoking. He was pulling a loaded gas tanker. I was able to alert him and he got stopped before it turned into a really bad incident. I stopped to make sure it was under control and he was thankful I alerted him.

On my first solo run I bought a cb 2 hours out of Dallas. An hour before Laredo I was notified over cb my rear trailer lights were malfunctioning. Thank god number one. Stopped at a kind of shady truck stop to try and fix. Used it to ask other drivers for assistance. Fixed for nothing. Thank god number two.