As a free load board, we know that when it comes to living the trucker lifestyle and doing it well, there’s more than just mastering your driving skills or making deadlines. You have to be able to talk the talk. Do a quick Google search, and you’ll quickly learn that truckers have a specific way of speaking.
If you’re new to the field, it may feel like you’re learning a new language, but we’ve rounded up the ten definitions every trucker should know. Check out our list below.
10 Definitions Every Trucker Should Know
Want to talk like a trucker? Here’s a short list of some common lingo on the road. Which of these have you heard before?
- Got Your Ears On: Are you listening?
- All Locked Up: This simply means the weigh station is closed.
- Alligator (or Gator): This is a good one to know of for safety reasons. Alligators refer to pieces of tire on the road that can look like a gator. If you run over them, they can bounce back and “bite” your truck, causing damage to hoses, belts, fuel crossover lines, or even the body of your tractor.
- Having “Shutter Trouble”: Difficulty staying awake.
- Too Many Eggs in the Basket: You have an overweight load or gross weight.
- Black Eye: Headlight out. So, if a fellow trucker says you have a black eye don’t take it as a threat, they’re actually doing you a favor.
- Comic Book: A trucker’s logbook.
- In My Back Pocket: Behind you, or a place you have passed.
- Bear: Can be any law enforcement officer, but usually refers to a State Trooper or Highway Patrol. Bonus: Bear in the bushes is a warning that law enforcement is hiding somewhere on the side of the road with a radar gun.
- Skins: These are the tires on your truck.
Keeping these terms in the back of your head as you venture out to make deliveries and pickups will make your job a lot easier (and more fun).
So, what do you think? Have you heard of these before? Would you add any other important ones to this list? We know that the list of trucker lingo could go on and on, but we hope these ten definitions give you a good starting point!
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