Do trucker’s still use the CB?
I expect that, except for a few cases, the mobile phone has replaced CB radio
CB radios are still in use, not as common as they once were. I always had one fitted, but for the last 5 or more years I can’t say it was ever used.
Still have my cobra nightstalker and a midland am/fm.
Dont some tipper drivers on quarry work use them still? Useful on site so a loader can give instructions to various truck drivers. Daresay Ill be told off if I`m wrong.
boat traffic on a.m. is still vital and popular,apart from that,theres no real useage.
Not particularly relevant, but the thread has jogged my memory. In 1990 I formed a transport charity running to Romania. This was in response to the discovery of orphanages etc that were in desperate need. One trip I ran was a convoy of 16 artics. One of the volunteer drivers offered to fit CB radio in all of them, which I agreed to but thought it was a waste of time tbh. But we ended up in a very remote part of Romania near the Russian border. Absolutely impossible to phone home but laddy with the cb expertise managed to contact someone in Portsmouth and another in Swansea. They were given my home phone number and asked to contact my wife who could then contact all the other wives/partners to update them on our progress. So I discovered that CB had certainly got it’s uses!
I know it’s a bit of a ramble but nothing better to do at the moment!
Pete 
I met my (ex) second wife thru the CB radio … 
Thanks for all the replies guys, I just remember going off with my dad when i was a youngster and hearing all the chatter on the CB, and my dad was no doubt very gratefull for all the traffic reports and warnings about smokey traps…thought the truckers might of kept these going just for those reasons…
You’ll see quite a few ‘all the bells and whistles’ wagons with twinned aerials up. I think they are just another part of the bells and whistles get up, not actually wired into a CB at all.
Not that these twinned twigs would actually do any good, even if they were wired up to an actual CB. They have to be properly matched and a minimum distance apart to make a difference.
There are still quite a few CB users on the road, but I agree with Grumpy Dad, nowhere near what there used to be.
They’re great for chatting with a mate when running down the road together, as long as you move off 19. In their heyday, you could chat with lots of different folk all the way down the road and back up again. These days you’re doing well to chat much at all.
I wouldn’t bother buying a new rig now. A cheap second hand one would do to test the water.
I’ve still got the rig I bought new in 2000, so it’s no problem to get set up in another wagon.
Strangely both Daf and Merc (big cab wagons at least) come with CB twigs fitted. However, in the case of Merc anyway, if you ask your Merc workshop to wire in a CB power cable for you, they’ll refuse. Apparently it’s a warranty thing, which is very weird to me considering there’s already a CB aerial fitted by Merc themselves.
raymundo:
I met my (ex) second wife thru the CB radio …
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
i mostly met pavement princesses through mine… 
Simon:
Strangely both Daf and Merc (big cab wagons at least) come with CB twigs fitted. However, in the case of Merc anyway, if you ask your Merc workshop to wire in a CB power cable for you, they’ll refuse. Apparently it’s a warranty thing, which is very weird to me considering there’s already a CB aerial fitted by Merc themselves
From my limited experience, thatll be more to do with some Merc fitters attitude than any real problem.
Many companies are against them as they are not used hands free. Personally I yap for hours on my phone and blue tooth ear piece. Total privacy and no squelch issues.
Going to get one for my truck what’s the best one to get have been looking at the Midland 48 Alan ■■?
ukjamesuk:
Many companies are against them as they are not used hands free. Personally I yap for hours on my phone and blue tooth ear piece. Total privacy and no squelch issues.
If the police can use hand held radio mikes, so can we.
As I understand it, the issue with hand held phones is, you have to hold it near your ear to hear the other end of the conversation.
That isn’t the case with a CB radio, because the radio has a (rubbish) speaker built into its underside. Most CBers fit an external, better sound quality) external speaker.
Another issue of using a hand held phone is if you have to drop it, you will be reluctant to drop it anyway cos it’s an expensive piece of kit.
Again, a CB radio mike is on a cable. If you have to drop it it’ll just dangle on its cable, so it’s easy to recover. A phone could be anywhere.
And finally, the legislation which covers hand held phones while driving also excludes radio mics.
Simon:
ukjamesuk:
Many companies are against them as they are not used hands free. Personally I yap for hours on my phone and blue tooth ear piece. Total privacy and no squelch issues.If the police can use hand held radio mikes, so can we.
As I understand it, the issue with hand held phones is, you have to hold it near your ear to hear the other end of the conversation.
That isn’t the case with a CB radio, because the radio has a (rubbish) speaker built into its underside. Most CBers fit an external, better sound quality) external speaker.
Another issue of using a hand held phone is if you have to drop it, you will be reluctant to drop it anyway cos it’s an expensive piece of kit.
Again, a CB radio mike is on a cable. If you have to drop it it’ll just dangle on its cable, so it’s easy to recover. A phone could be anywhere.And finally, the legislation which covers hand held phones while driving also excludes radio mics.
There no law against the use of a cb in a truck, though I’m sure there’s possibles a copper out there with a chip on his shoulder and a carrot up his arse that will pull a driver for using one.
Just to put it in perspective it’s an Eu wise legislation that mobile phones must not be at the wheel and a Bluetooth device be used, in France unless the phone is connected to the vehicles audio system or a hands free kit is fitted, the use of Bluetooth headsets are also illegal
Police have exemptions for hand held devices and are trained to use them whilst driving
If using a CB causes a safety issue then the driver can be done for not being in full control of the vehicle - same goes for eating an apple for example
It’s not illegal to eat while driving. However, if you get distracted while snacking behind the wheel, the police could prosecute you for careless driving if they consider you to not be in proper control of the vehicle, an offence which carries an on-the-spot fine of £100 and three penalty points.