Dictionary - Part Three

Drum roll, please - the final installment of the trucker’s dictionary.

PICKLE PARK
Trucker’s term for highway rest area. You figure it out.
QUALCOMM
An infernal contraption which sends and receives instant messages between a driver and
his office. It’s sort of like e-mail. The unit itself looks like a cross between a computer
and an old word processor.
RADIO RAMBO
Ass-hole drivers who use their radios to pick fights.
REEFER
No, not the kind you roll - the refrigeration unit that cools a trailer. They are diesel
powered, and make a hell of a lot of noise. You learn to sleep with them running all night
about two feet from your head.
SATELLITE
Also called a slave pump. Since big trucks have two fuel tanks (no, they’re not gas tanks)
two pumps are needed for fueling. The one on the driver’s side is a regular pump, with
readouts for gallons and dollars. The satellite pump, on the passenger side, has no
display, just a hose. It is only activated when the main pump is operating, and its gallons
and cost read out on the main pump totals.
SKATE BOARD
A flat-bed trailer
SEAT COVER
Trucker’s term for the female occupant(s) of a passing vehicle. They are generally young, attractive and long legged.
SERPENTINE
A side-to-side steering maneuver (quite snake-like) that swings the tail of your trailer. This is how a backing set-up is performed. You serpentine until your trailer is lined up with the hole that you’re trying to back into.
SMOKEY
See Bear
SUPER COOP
Slang term for one of the newer, larger weigh stations. These normally have much more room to park “out of service” trucks and some have buildings
large enough to pull an entire rig into for inspections.
“20”
One of the “10” codes used on CB’s. When someone asks what your “20” is, they are
asking for your location.
TANDEMS
There are actually two types of tandems. The drive tandems are the two sets of wheels at
the back of a tractor. They drive the truck. The trailer tandems are the two sets of wheels
at the rear of a tractor. They act as a pivot point when the truck is turned. They are
capable of being moved forward and backward on the trailer frame in order to adjust the
trailer’s weight distribution or bridge.
TARE WEIGHT LINE
The same road marking as the fog line. Past this line, the road’s engineers do not
guarantee that the highway will support the weight of a big truck.
TRACTOR
The business end of a semi. It’s the end where the driver sits.
TRAILER
Pretty self-explanatory. It’s the part that hauls the stuff. Got it?
TRIP PAK
A service, similar to UPS or FEDEX, used by some trucking companies to get needed
paperwork from the road to the home office. Drivers put completed Trip Pak envelopes in
a bright yellow box located at truck stops, where it’s picked up by couriers on a daily
basis.
WAGON
Truckers’ term for a trailer.
WRAPPER
Color of an unmarked patrol car. “That bear’s in a plain white wrapper.”
WIGGLE WAGON
A double trailer. So called because the back trailer seems to wander, or wiggle, going down the road. I heard this from a female driver, so it may just be a “girl thing.”
YARD DOG
Also called a yard mule. A very small, short tractor used in warehouse yards to move
trailers. They are extremely maneuverable and can put a trailer in a space no normal
tractor can. Their fifth wheel also raises and lowers, so they can lift and move a trailer
without raising the landing gear.
YARD STICK
Highway mile marker
ZIPPER
Dotted line on the highway

Finis.

Later,

obi