Nick Names For Various Things "On The Road"

The CB radio is an integral part of a truckers efficiency and communication. Being such it is also a common source of self amusement as well. We hunted down some of the common vocabulary used by truckers while out on the road and compiled a list from various sources. These were some of our favorites:


Salt shaker - slating truck
Zipper Middle -broken white lines on highway
Gator - tire remnants
Alarm clock - rumble strip
Smoky - state trooper
Evel Keneval - Motorcycle Cop
Care bear - state trooper sitting in a const. zone, lights flashing
Disco lights - flashing lights on a cop car
Bear Den - state trooper station
Band-aid buggy - ambulance
Bear in the air - airborne speed trap
Bear in the air, with a razor in his hair - airborne speed trap using a helicopter
Country Bear Jamboree - numerous bears working one area
Big bear - state police
Bear bait - speeding car
City Kitty/Town clown - local police
County mountie - county sheriff
Bird dog barking - radar detector going off
Polar bear - A white cop car
Plain White wrapper - unmarked cop car
Diesel bear - DOT cop
Chicken Coop/Chicken House - Scales
Hammer Lane - Left (passing) lane
Ditch Bait - truck or 4-wheeler going too fast in poor conditions.
Dingleberry – tailgater
Skinny Chicken – roadrunner
Ratchet jaw - someone who won't shut up on the cb
Liquid gold - fuel
Seat cover - good looking gal in a car or truck
Choke n Puke - Bad Restaurant
Mechanical Indian - electronic flashing arrow sign
Big word's out - scale closed
Rollin' ya across - not having to actually STOP on scale
Weighing your wagon - having to stop on scale to weigh
Doin' that deal - officers at scale checking logs or doing alot of inspections
Locked up nobody home - scale closed nobody there
Yard sticker - mile marker
Rolling Ranch - livestock hauler
Beaver biscuits- wood chips
Big radio - long range, high power c.b.
Throw Iron - Chain Up
Runnin' barefoot - No chains
Oops - Wreck
Draw some lines - do your logbook
Jibber Jabber - non english chatter
Rabbit -Speeding truck
Cash box - toll booth
Back seat window licker - tard
Yard dog - spotter truck or any tractor not legal 2b driven on the road
OTR driver - old, tired and rundown
West Virginia chrome - duct tape
Busterbrown - UPS driver
Wallyworld - either a Wal-mart store or a Wal-mart driver
Antler Ally - marked deer crossing area


Feel free to help add to our growing vocab list!

Make sure you and your truck are properly insured. Berrier insurance offers the best rates on commercial truck insurance! Contact us and we will give you a free truck insurance quote over the phone at 888-472-4915.

Welcome to the Worlds Largest Truck Stop

IOWA 80

Founded in 1964, it was originally a small facility that housed a small truckers store, one lube bay, and a restaurant. Since its purchase by the Moon family in 1984 it has undergone numerous expansions, the largest in 1994 of $4 million which closed the gap as the largest truck stop in the world. Now almost 50 years later the place has become a tribute to the trucking industry with antique trucks, pumps, toys and hundreds of photos displayed throughout. The truck stop currently serves 5,000 customers per day and spans 220 acres, 2.5 times the size of Disneyland, with a 67,000 sq ft main building. It boasts the Iowa 80 Kitchen, it’s new 300-seat restaurant with a 50-ft. salad bar, one-of-a-kind Truckers Warehouse Store, 24 private showers, Dolby Surround Sound® movie theater, Driver’s Den, Game Room, Embroidery Center , Barber, Dentist, TA Service Center, Truckomat, CAT Scale, Fuel Center with 15 fuel pumps, Wendy’s Restaurant and Dairy Queen in the Food Court and a Blimpie located in the Fuel Center.


Wow! talk about a truckers paradise, it has just about everything one could ever want from a truck stop and more. Except they forgot about one thing, truck insurance made easy! Maybe we should set up shop there! The Berrier Insurance Divas would have a blast in a place like this while helping out our trucker friends, making sure that they are covered at the best rates for their commercial trucking insurance. Is this place really as amazing as it seems?

Truck Drivers With Diabetes - What are the CDL rules?

There appears to be a lot of confusion on whether or not truck drivers with diabetes can obtain a CDL license. For years, there was a ban that prevented truck drivers with diabetes who used insulin from driving commercial vehicles within interstate operation. In 2003, the FMCSA introduced the Diabetes Exemption Program which allowed individuals with insulin treated diabetes the ability to operate a commercial vehicle in interstate commerce. But there was a lot of confusion as to who could drive. You had to have three years of previous commercial driving experience. In late 2005, everything changed.


Due to the effort by the American Diabetes Association, President Bush signed into law, doing away with the three year requirement. There is no longer any need to show previous commercial driving experience, even if you are on insulin. However, there still are 57 other screenings, guidelines and provisions that one must pass in order to be granted the exemption for truck drivers with diabetes. Also, one must abide by any particular state requirements in regards to the commercial driver license.


Individuals with insulin treated diabetes will have to demonstrate that they have control of the diabetes while on insulin. For those with Type 1 diabetes, they are required to have been on insulin for two months before they can apply for the exemption. Individuals with Type 2 diabetes are required to have been on insulin for at least one month.


As you can see, one or two months is much better than the three year driving rule! If you have type 2 diabetes and do not use insulin, you do not need to apply for a diabetes exemption. You must still meet all other licensing and safety requirements as dictated by the state agency that issues your CDL. Read more at [link]


Insure your truck with Berrier Insurance! We love them big rigs and we specialize in commercial trucking insurance. Call us today for a quick comparison quote 888-472-4915.

TCA Names Shawn Hubbard 2010 Highway Angel for Saving Man in Burning Car

Shawn Hubbard, a professional Ruan Trans Corp driver who saved the life of a young man trapped inside a burning car, will be named 2010 Highway Angel by the Truckload Carriers Association on Dec 18th at Boise State University in Idaho.

On November 13 2009, Hubbard had just made a delivery and was heading east on Interstate 60 in California when he came across a car on fire. The car appeared to have smashed into several steel posts and had come to a stop in a ditch against a 40-foot high embankment. Two people were still inside, the driver who appeared to be dead, and a passenger who was still alive but pinned by the crushed car. Using two fire extinguishers, Hubbard slowed the flames but could not fully extinguish them. He then pulled the debris and collapsed roof off the car so the passenger could escape and pushed him up the hill to safety, seconds before the flames fully engulfed the car.

The California Highway Patrol presented him with a Certificate of Commendation for his deed, and also received an award from Los Angeles County supervisor, and a Gold “R” certificate from Ruan. The decision to name Hubbard as the 2010 Highway Angel of the year was made by the TCA Communications & Image Policy Committee, which oversees the Highway Angel program.

As the Highway Angel of the Year, Hubbard will be flown to the uDrove Humanitarian Bowl, accompanied by Ralph Arthur, president of Dedicated Contract Carriage for Ruan Transport, where he will receive a trophy in front of an audience anticipated to be 34,000 people.

A truly heroic act by an everyday driver we salute you Shawn Hubbard. An accident can happen anywhere and at any time. To make sure you are properly covered contact us at Berrier Insurance and we will review your commercial trucking insurance with you. We can offer you the best rates on commercial auto insurance and provide detailed answers to any of your questions about insurance. Highway Angels nominations are accepted year-round. To nominate a driver or read stories about previous Highway Angels visit http://www.blogger.com/www.truckload.org/highway-angel.

10 Commandments for Truckers

Thank you diesel weasel for sharing your worldly advice on truck stop etiquette. This was posted on TruckersReport.com and we thought it was just too funny not to share it with all of our trucker friends! Don't forget to contact us at Berrier Insurance for free quotes and to answer questions about commercial truck insurance.


1. Thou shalt not block the fuel pump longer than necessary. This means fuel your truck, go in, grab your bag of chips or coffee and your receipt QUICKLY, and get out of the way. If you want to shop for other things, like ELECTRONICS or FAST FOOD (which is never fast at a truck stop), go park it. Also pull ahead after fueling if there's enough room (usually there is)


2. Thou shalt not leave a urinal or bathroom stall filthy. If you pee on a toilet seat, wipe it up, it takes 5 seconds. If you stand at a urinal, at least make an attempt to aim.


3. Thou shalt wash thy hands after touching thy junk in the bathroom.


4. Thou shalt wash thy hands before dining.


5. Thou shalt not attempt land speed records in any truck stop parking lot.


6. Thou Shalt Park thy truck as squarely and centered as possible in parking space.


7. Thou shalt not flirt extensively and excessively with the cute cashier and shalt refrain from "hitting on" another driver's wife.


8. Thou shalt attempt to help a newbie who has trouble backing into a parking spot, rather than heckle him/her on channel 19.


9. Thou shalt not throw trash or bodily excrement of any kind into a parking lot.


10. Thou shalt cleanse the exterior shell of thy body often enough to keep thy funk from offending others.

We hope you enjoyed this light hearted post.

If you are in need of great rates on truck insurance, stop by at BerrierInsurance.com and ask for a fast, free quote. We have been specializing in trucking insurance for almost 30 years and will be here to continue providing our customers with quality truck insurance and the lowest price possible.

National Texting Ban in Commercial Vehicles Now in Place

A new law recently passed has now placed a nation wide ban on texting while driving commercial vehicles. Made official Oct. 21 it includes penalties up to $2,750 and an $11,000 maximum for carriers, as well as sanctions including, for repeat offenders, disqualification from operating vehicles in interstate commerce. A texting conviction is now considered a serious traffic violation. Driver violators can be disqualified for 60 days if convicted of two separate violations in three years and 120 days if convicted of three or more violations in three years.

Under the new law texting includes a short message service, emailing, instant messaging, a request to access the Internet or any other form of electronic text retrieval or entry.

However, it does not include:

• Reading, selecting or entering a telephone or extension number, or voicemail retrieval codes and commands into an electronic device to make or receive a phone call or using voice commands to initiate or receive a phone call.

• Inputting, selecting, or reading a global positioning system or navigation system.

• Using fleet management systems, dispatching devices, smart phones, CBs or music players.

We are concerned about the safety of our drivers and ask that no one drive distracted. Accidents do happen and driving while texting increases those chances. We offer the best rates on commercial auto insurance to protect you in case of an accident. To make sure you are properly covered contact us at Berrier Insurance and we will review your commercial trucking insurance with you, providing detailed answers to any of your questions. Keep yourself safe, if you see a distracted driver stay clear of them! To read more of this article visit Truckers News.

Lisa Sherer, President

Berrier Insurance Agency, Inc.