Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/675322
80 | Overdrive | May 2016 ReaRview C itizens Band radios still grace the cabs of most trucks on U.S. highways, but their popularity and necessity has waned dramatically since the national CB heyday of the 1970s, even for truckers. Befitting the CB's repute of the era, Overdrive each month in the late 1970s published an entire section devoted to CBs, associated equipment, articles about truckers using CBs to chase on-the-run criminals and more. The section also featured adver- tisements for the latest CB radios and gear. The section also housed write- ups on police radar detectors and how truckers could avoid getting busted using one. Many states were in the process of outlawing the devices and punishing offend- ers caught employing them. The monthly CB section also promoted Overdrive's Cross- Country CB'ers club, which was founded in the early 1970s and preceded the magazine's CB section by a few years. Members would receive colorful decals for their truck, cloth patches, a U.S. highway map of CB channels used by truckers throughout the country and specially ordered call- ing cards with their name and CB handle. A mail-in application was included in each issue of Overdrive. "Not intended as a nationwide 'gab' fest or social club," wrote Overdrive editors in their CB club promo, "the organization is de- signed to help truckers get their job done, in safety, with minimum hassle. 10-4?" Tool of the trade BY JAMES JAILLET Overdrive's CB section's intro page usually featured a model posing with a CB. A plug for Overdrive's Cross-Country CB'ers club in a 1974 issue of Overdrive. An ad for a Telex CB microphone in the October 1976 issue. This ad appeared in the April 1977 edition.