I was in a Kenworth pullin' logs

[mrlynn]

bfd wrote:



Well, I stopped at a road house in Texas
A little place called Hamburger Dan's
Heard that old jukebox start playin'
A tune called the truck drivin' man

Pour me another cup of coffee
For it is the best in the land
I'll put a nickel in the jukebox
And play that Truck Drivin' Man
And play that Truck Drivin' Man

Well, the waitress then brought me up some coffee
I thanked her then called her again
I said that old song sure does fit me
Cause I'm a truck drivin' man

Pour me another cup of coffee
For it is the best in the land
And put a nickel in the jukebox
And play the Truck Drivin' Man

I climbed back aboard my old semi
Then like a flash I was gone
I got them old truck wheels a rollin'
Now, I'm on my way to San Antone

Pour me another cup of coffee
For it is the best in the land
I'll put a nickel in the jukebox
And play that Truck Drivin' Man

"Truck Drivin' Man" — Terry Fell's greatest hit (he wrote it). Covered by many; here's Terry Fell's original:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyFlifZuK4k&ab_channel=FredCDobbs00

As for Commander Cody, you can't forget "The Truckstop at the End of the World" (written by CC and Bill Kirchen):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TuB2zuyoIA&ab_channel=commandercody

C.W. McCall's (a pseudonym, by the way) best song was "Wolf Creek Pass":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6LzWZYWpOU&ab_channel=madgab5

/Mr Lynn

[Racer X]

Oh yeah. My older brother had a CB in his bedroom. With an 8' whip antenna on top of a 20' pole, attached to the top of our 60' cedar tree in our back yard. He was talking to people in Georgia and Florida from Seattle because the signal would skip off of the ionosphere and run forever. Eventually a FCC truck found him and raised heck with our parents.

[mrlynn]

Speaking of CBs, there's a lot of songs, but you're stronger than I if you can listen to this one with a dry eye:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bi_kRv0dOk&ab_channel=gbcomms

"Teddy Bear," from Red Sovine

/Mr Lynn

[Grateful11]

CB's got big at about the same time my Dad's HVAC business was at it's height. I remember him putting a
big 3 legged CB antenna on the roof of the house hoping he could use it for Mom to relay phone calls
to him to save a lot trips and fuel. It just didn't have enough range. My Uncle had an big electrical business on
Oak Island and had a huge tower for 2-way Motorola radios. He had about a 50 mile range. When cellphones
came along a lot people asked him if he was going to switch to cellphones and said why would I this radio
system is paid for and no monthly fees. When he retired and sold the business the new guy didn't want to
the radio system.

[Don C]

Dad bought a used Buick that had a CB radio, I suppose in the 70's. He would have LOVED to listen to it but Mom would have none of it. She was into quiet. When I visited, I was allowed to turn it on once and listen to about 10 seconds before she instructed me to turn it off.

[riley5108]

Brings back a lot of good memories. Had a CB in the 70's and used it all the time. Came in real handy while driving from Indiana back to Iowa while in college. Illinois was a real Bear trap in those days. Have two brother-in-law's who were cross country truckers, it's a blast to hear them talk about the past. Thanks Vision!!

[Racer X]

Don C wrote:
Dad bought a used Buick that had a CB radio, I suppose in the 70's. He would have LOVED to listen to it but Mom would have none of it. She was into quiet. When I visited, I was allowed to turn it on once and listen to about 10 seconds before she instructed me to turn it off.

My dad let my brother mount his CB radio to the family '69 Pontiac Executive Safari Wagon (Bonneville based). 8' whip and underdash mount. Dad was ALL onboard with knowing where the "smokies" were.

[NewtonMP2100]

....whose log was you pullin'.....??

[Ombligo]

mrlynn wrote:
Speaking of CBs, there's a lot of songs, but you're stronger than I if you can listen to this one with a dry eye:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bi_kRv0dOk&ab_channel=gbcomms

"Teddy Bear," from Red Sovine

/Mr Lynn

I was going to post Red Sovine but you beat me to it. That man could put out tearjerker songs like no one else..

[Speedy]

Rick-o wrote: IIRC, they became popular during the oil embargo of the 70's, when the speed limit was reduced to 55mph. If you had a CB, you could monitor the truckers channel, (19?) and get reports of any Smokies up ahead so you could slow down and avoid a ticket.

This^. And as long as four wheelers stayed off the channel (19, although eastern drivers often used 17) you were good, otherwise you were ignored. Bear reports were not usually given to four-wheelers although we usually made exceptions for the rare darlin'.

CB radios are not as heavily used by truckers now as then because speed limits are higher, high enough that fuel use slows you down more than the bears, and frequently more than the speed limit, and GPS makes finding pickup/delivery places easy. They are still used to find out if a scale is open and if the weather is bad (closed roads, ice.)

Other forms of entertainment also keep the channel quiet. Before I retired I used the CB for communication with other drivers in my company when we ran together (often) and for use while making pickups and deliveries because the yard size of some shippers and consignees are quite expansive and we would need to communicate while moving around the yards using CBs. They are required in construction because you communicate with people on the ground via CB. The era of cheap cell phones also made a big contribution to the decline of the CB although most every truck still has one.