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Introducing a new weekly feature to BigDadGib.net. Each Saturday, I will be posting a lesson on how to speak proper trucker. This should prove to be both informational and funny at the same time.

Trucker lingo originated with the introduction of the Citizen Band Radio back in the late 1950’s. Since the CB was highly regulated back then, communication was intended to be much like Ham radio is today only at a much lower output power. It was not long before the professional truck driver found the CB to be a useful tool on the highway. The Federal Communication Commission had stated in the regulations that CB operators were not to broadcast information pertaining to police, police actions or their locations thus, the CB operators, mostly truckers, came up with code names for certain things like police, radar and speed traps.

Forty plus years later, most of this lingo is still being used daily. It is not uncommon to hear drivers using many of these terms at truck stops, at home or in writing. This lingo is spoken by most hardcore truckers who make life on-the-road their profession.

Here is Lesson No. 1

“CHICKEN TRUCK” - a fancy truck, usually adorned with lots of chrome, lights and extras. A high dollar truck.

"Gator" / "Alligator" – a large piece of a truck tire's tread in the roadway. The name comes from the tire tread's resemblance to the scaly ridges of an alligator's back.

“ZIPPER” - the dashed, white lines that separate the lanes on an interstate highway or turnpike.

“SUPER SLAB” - interstate highway

Let us use these new terms in a sentence, shall we.

“I was following a chicken truck down the super slab when he blew a rear tire and it left a big gator right on the zipper.”

BigDadGib