Overdrive

July 2014

Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info

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VOICES 8 | Overdrive | July 2014 It has been my aspiration to be able to converse with the fl uidity of an old pro on the CB, using the lingo and following along with the happenings going on. Unfortunately, I sound like a complete idiot. Plus, there are too many people out there using Channel 19 as their own platform for annoyance to get a word in edgewise. Like the grown men (and the occasional woman) who think it's hilarious to get on and make fart noises. Once or twice is OK. I understand boredom. But never-ending fart noises? Stop! Coconino County, Arizo- na, has banned all handheld devices, including CBs (unless, according to the language of the ordinance, you are reporting an emer- gency to authorities). We all know safety has absolutely nothing to do with the ordi- nance, including CBs. Using a CB is as involved as using a headset – it's a one-click deal, and if we're banning things that are "distracting," we should probably take the laptops out of sheriff 's dep- uties' vehicles. I can't even tell you how many times I've looked down and seen a cop using a laptop while driving. They included CBs in their ordinance because truckers can communicate where troopers are hiding and whether or not scales are open. We listened to a guy give a detailed description of trying to fi nd his lost cat. I know that he has a Maine Coon, and he walked around his property shaking a cat food box for two days looking for it. This small tidbit of information took him 45 minutes to describe. By the time George got sick of it and turned the thing off, I had resolved to fi nd this person and strangle him and the cat with the mic cord to put them both out of their misery. I know why your cat ran away, guy: It's because it takes you nine hours to tell a two-sentence story! Communication is great when you're out there alone. After silent hours, it can be awesome to hear another human voice. That is, when they're not screaming about someone being a child molester from Virginia – anyone who has been in North Georgia has heard this rabid freak. Here's the deal: Talk all you want, spout all the hate you want, talk about your cat or your toenails or your mother's underwear, but take it to another channel. Channel 19 is not your own personal radio station. There are 39 other channels you can befoul with your miseries. Use them. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be over here looking for a way to fi nd the guy from California who has "fi re in his wire" and is using a ba- zillion-watt station to walk all over every trucker he can hear out there. Ten-fo. "It's difficult to use a CB anymore unless you run a kicker. My barefoot Galaxy gets walked all over by the base stations in skip land. It seems odd that of 40 channels, they have to use 15, 17 and 19 to play their games on. I turn the gain down and squelch up to get rid of them, but that obviously affects range. If you are not within a quarter to half mile of me, I'll never hear you and probably couldn't talk over the noise anyway." — Glen Murphy, via Facebook Wendy Parker chronicles her journey on the road with her owner-operator husband, George, in the George and Wendy Show blog on OverdriveOnline.com. Scan the QR to read more from her on your phone or tablet. "There are some extremely hardworking people out there in the truck stops, and they don't get the recognition they should. So here's to all the shower cleaners, clerks and stock personnel working in a truck stop today (and every day, including holidays) – thank you. We appreciate you and really do notice the job you're doing." — Wendy Parker on truck-stop staff across the nation; search "Saluting truck stop staff" at OverdriveOnline.com for particular kudos dished in Parker's full appreciation. Take it to another channel Let's talk about CB etiquette, come on SALUTES: TRUCK STOP STAFF HITHER AND YON "I keep mine on the lower channels where the grown-ups are." — Joe Shirley, via Facebook Voices_0714.indd 8 6/26/14 10:01 PM

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