Truckin' Terminology

Much like the days of yore when trucking consisted of "10-4 Good Buddy!" and other industry phrases, there are a lot of terms that will leave you scratching your head and wondering what on earth I'm talking about.  The following will help you decipher some of those phrases:

• Four wheelers: The civilians of the highway who are licensed to operate a 4-wheeled vehicle and cause us consternation on a daily basis.
• 10, 14, 11, 34 and 70:  Our lives center around legal limits of our time.  On a daily basis we are limited to 11 hours of driving, 14 consecutive hours of a workday, and a minimum of 10 hours rest to reset the 14 and 11.  On a weekly basis we are limited to 70 hours of on-duty and/or driving time in an 8-day period.  34 consecutive hours of rest (off-duty) will reset our 70.
• CPM: Cents Per Mile, our pay rate.  So much more factors in to a job decision than CPM, but once we find a company we want to work with, the CPM is important for budgeting and determining what our weekly take-home pay will be.
• Drop & Hook:  The ideal way to pick up and drop a load.  This means our load is ready as soon as we arrive at the shipper and all we have to do is drop our empty trailer and hook up to the new load.  At the destination, same thing in reverse - we drop our loaded trailer, pick up an empty and take off.  Time is money, and the less time we spend dinking around at a shipper or consignee, the better.
• Shipper:  Where the load originates.
• Consignee:  Where the load delivers.
• Live load:  A dreaded type of load due to the wild card nature of the beast and the inflexibility of the appointment time.  A live load means arriving with an empty trailer and backing it into a dock, then waiting to be loaded.  Live loads can take as little as 15 minutes or as long as 8-10 hours.  The unknown factor makes it a nightmare for most drivers.
• MT (Empty): An empty trailer.  Many shippers require us to drop an empty before we're permitted to pick up a load, so sometimes we get sent on wild goose chases to find an empty trailer before our pick-up time.  The miles spent chasing down an empty aren't paid, so this is not an enjoyable task.
• Tractor:  The actual truck, not including the trailer.  Also known as a bobtail.  To "bobtail" to a location means driving there without a trailer attached.
• Deadhead:  To drive to a location with an empty trailer.  Also known as "empty miles," this is often how we get from a destination to our next shipper.  These miles are paid.
• Steers, drives and tandems:  These are the three main axle locations on a truck.  The steers are the two front tires.  The drives are the 8 tires located on the rear of the tractor.  The tandems are the 8 tires located at the rear of the trailer.
• Sliding the tandems:  The tandems sit on a sliding track with about 20+ holes to choose from for the resting location of the tandems.  Depending on the age and condition of the trailer, sliding the tandems can be a simple maneuver or an exercise in frustration.  Basic operation consists of pulling the handle, locking it in place, getting in the truck and moving the tractor only (keeping the trailer brakes locked), then releasing the handle and sliding the tandems until they lock into place.  Realistic operation consists of attempting to pull the handle, getting in the truck multiple times to rock the tandems, having to use vise grips to hold the handle in place, and/or using the 3-lb hammer to pound the locking pins into their holes so the tandems can be slid.  This exercise in frustration can last anywhere from 5 minutes to half an hour or more.
• 12/34/34:  The legal limits for weight on a truck.  Gross vehicle weight cannot exceed 80,000 lbs.  Each axle is limited to 12,000 on the steers, 34,000 on the drives, and 34,000 on the tandems.  "Making a load legal" consists of sliding the tandems and/or the 5th wheel to adjust the weight distribution until it is within these parameters.
• Scaling:  Most truck stops offer certified scaling along with fuel, overpriced food, and coffee.  The most common and popular type of scale is CAT scales.  For heavy loads, scaling is the only way to certify that the load weight has been distributed properly and that the load weight is legal.
• Fuel:  We don't put gasoline in our trucks, we put in diesel fuel, so we refer to it as purchasing fuel, not gas.
• DEF:  This little acronym stands for Diesel Exhaust Fluid, a nifty invention that became mandatory circa 2010, supplementing an exhaust system which greatly reduces the carbon emissions placed into the air.  DEF is a fluid that is measured in green boxes on the dash, and referred to as having 1, 2, 3, or 4 boxes left.  Each box equals approximately 2.5 gallons of DEF.  Yet another fluid for us to purchase almost as often as we purchase fuel.
• Idling or Idle time:  Running the truck while it is sitting in one place.  Companies hate idling because it burns up fuel without running any miles and therefore costs them money without bringing any in.  However, sometimes idling is required, such as when it is 80+ degrees out and we need to run the A/C or when it is below 30 degrees and we have to keep the truck running so the fuel doesn't gel up and cause the truck to be unable to start.
• Lot Lizard: The preferred euphemism for "Ladies of the Evening" who focus their "street corner" on truck stops.  Pretty much bottom of the barrel for quality in this particular industry, they are viewed as only a step or two above crack whore.  Generally, it's known to avoid utilizing these "services" unless you greatly desire an unknown disease or deadly interaction with her pimp.