Activity on the Interstates

[kk9h]

The intent of my original post was to see if my recent experience with taking a CB radio on a couple road trips was unique or more or less the norm today. It appears from a number of the replies that it is indeed pretty much the norm. I know technology advances have provided many alternatives since the hey day of CB radio usage on the Interstates, but I was quite surprised to see so many state police cars out in the open working radar without a single mention of any of them over the air. So be it, times have changed. Thanks to all that replied.

 

[slowmover]

The intent of my original post was to see if my recent experience with taking a CB radio on a couple road trips was unique or more or less the norm today. It appears from a number of the replies that it is indeed pretty much the norm. I know technology advances have provided many alternatives since the hey day of CB radio usage on the Interstates, but I was quite surprised to see so many state police cars out in the open working radar without a single mention of any of them over the air. So be it, times have changed. Thanks to all that replied.

Here’s perspective:

1) Troopers working radar on a 70-mph stretch of Interstate? The vast majority of big trucks don’t run over 70-mph, ergo, don’t much care about speeding fines where they can’t speed.

— Indiana (among a few others) has a big truck 65-mph speed limit. You can’t run that state on a weekday without reports going back & forth all afternoon.

2). Was your road trip on a weekend? As there’s no where near the volume of commercial traffic on Saturday & Sunday. The days of cross-continent trucking is over, pretty much just produce. Most truckers do not want to work more than 5-6/days without going home. Most are home from late Friday till late Sunday afternoon. Those others en-route somewhere have three days to run a two-day load. Zero hurry.

The greatest radio traffic is with locals doing their M-F bulk commodity hauling where a contract is for a specified number of loads is underway. 27-truckloads, or 2,250 truckloads. The drivers keep each other apprised of changed conditions or problems underway as they shuttle from one point back to the first. Round Robins. Turnarounds.

—Then there are the family men who own their own trucks and are working regionally servicing a major metro. From a distribution center (many), then inbound & outbound from the same receivers in that metro.

— See the map Mega-Regions of North America to get a feel for where big truck traffic is highest: if you aren’t on a point between these East of Interstate 35 on the E-W routes of IH-10, IH-20, IH-30, IH-40, and IH-70, and — East of IH-65 — on the the N-S routes of IH-65, IH-75, IH-81 & IH-95 (as well as E-W on IH-80/94) you won’t hear much from truck drivers on AM-19.

Some routes they never shut up (IH-40 thru Tennessee) or anywhere within 100-miles of Atlanta (except where three-lane Interstates are in use).

Recommend your next road trip you run IH-24 from Nashville down to Chattanooga and park somewhere near the IH-59 split. That’s an unreal number of pissed off drivers every stinking day trying to get into and maybe past Atlanta.

Or, IH-81 where it runs from Virginia thru Maryland, West Virginia & into Pennsylvania in quick succession, right on up past Carlisle, PA meeting the Pennsylvania Turnpike and IH-80. The NYC/Philly service area edge. The loads to New England unlucky enough not to be able to run IH-90.

Real fun is that breed of driver everyone else hates: da New Joisy A-wipe to be found anywhere near Philly and NYC on the NJ Turnpike & IH-95. (Bet you turn it off then).

Too quiet otherwise? Sure, there are long stretches of IH heading away from city mega-regions towards nowhere. Plenty of drivers have their radios turned on, but not many are interested in talking for its own sake past their early morning start.

My day starts between 0300 & 0400 and is well past 1/2 over by noontime. The hours from 0500-0900 are when you’ll hear the most drivers on the radio as they are inbound to their delivery — then the scramble to get re-loaded —and departing that region maybe 1300 and later. By which time they’re tired. (As the sun comes up, radio interference increases till past dark).

The local guys are headed home by 1500. I’m usually dine by 1600-1700. Parked for the night. Alarm set for 0130. I’m in bed before you’re thinking about supper.

— How far out-of-synch are you with the truck driver traffic flow? On the road by 0900 and driving till near dark? You’ve missed most of what was to be heard pre-dawn and the next hour or so.

— How far out of route are you from the major traffic lanes? Some very long stretches are quiet as there’s no local guys spinning things up,

The Great State of Ohio is the center of the trucking universe. Things fall off from there. Inverse Law (except choke points as noted plus some others).

“The United States” — properly understood— is the BOS-WASH Corridor and then extending out along the north shore of the Ohio River till almost Chicago. The Great Lakes and the adjoining areas of Canada. Were this country physically invaded, the war is OVER once this area changes hands.

— The rest of the country is colonies to this region.

Understand it as THE NEED for radio drops off except for the City Region dynamic already noted.

Weekend trip? Afternoon driving? Off the major routes? Any of these will drastically reduce radio traffic unless very bad weather, a serious wreck or a BIG construction backup occurs.

 

[slowmover]

This is said to everyone reading this:

Tell us of your radio rig? 5-7’ antenna on a permanent roof mount? A quality receiver (AM/SSB; midrange $150-200?); clean power from the battery? A fair amount of RF Bonding? Some ferrites or coax filtration in place?

Most of all: DSP Audio Filtration aboard?

Miss any of these and you’ve left performance on the table (50-150W so you can be heard as far as you can hear).

Whatever the radio (and given an antenna like the above) it is receiving what you can’t hear. Amateur Radio gear features significant DSP filtration: take a page from that book.

The next 10,000 “experienced” CB Radio guys you run into aren’t aware of what DSP brings to CB.

Short of the above gear and careful installation, I’d be willing to bet you missed what was available to be heard in that time and place.

I’ve been in rural areas past dark with Squelch off and RF Gain at maximum and had to those controls back in because I can’t follow MORE than three simultaneous conversations underway at once.

None of these six men can hear any but to whom they’re speaking (unless on a base station well-sorted & situated), they’ve the typically low-performing radio rigs accepted as par for what (they think) CB can do while mobile.

Are you running the radio for maximum signal gain (trading noise for distance)?

Here’s your heads-up: get right the rest of it right and get DSP.

.

 

[WX4JCW]

This is said to everyone reading this:

Tell us of your radio rig? 5-7’ antenna on a permanent roof mount? A quality receiver (AM/SSB; midrange $150-200?); clean power from the battery? A fair amount of RF Bonding? Some ferrites or coax filtration in place?

Most of all: DSP Audio Filtration aboard?

Miss any of these and you’ve left performance on the table (50-150W so you can be heard as far as you can hear).

Whatever the radio (and given an antenna like the above) it is receiving what you can’t hear. Amateur Radio gear features significant DSP filtration: take a page from that book.

The next 10,000 “experienced” CB Radio guys you run into aren’t aware of what DSP brings to CB.

Short of the above gear and careful installation, I’d be willing to bet you missed what was available to be heard in that time and place.

I’ve been in rural areas past dark with Squelch off and RF Gain at maximum and had to those controls back in because I can’t follow MORE than three simultaneous conversations underway at once.

None of these six men can hear any but to whom they’re speaking (unless on a base station well-sorted & situated), they’ve the typically low-performing radio rigs accepted as par for what (they think) CB can do while mobile.

Are you running the radio for maximum signal gain (trading noise for distance)?

Here’s your heads-up: get right the rest of it right and get DSP..

Reminds me of a joke

do you know when you have been trucking too long?
You come home, your wife whispers in your ear “I ain’t got no panties on” and you reply “Shut Up Stupid!!!”

 

[slowmover]

First few times I heard the, “shut up, stupid “, I didn’t realize it was playacting (better term?). It’s funny when well-applied.

CB on AM-19 will take you back to junior high school —and when that dynamic is rolling — best have some thick skin.

To read this is not the same as to have heard it on-air. It’s like a quote from a movie (maybe it is, don’t know), but it’s a staple AND it can be funny as hell.

There are those with comedic timing. Wit, wakes up the half-asleep.

It’s the incongruous statement.

 

[FLA727]

Making a trip from Florida to Northeast Ohio in May so I'll have a chance to see what kind of highway traffic is out there.

 

[KK4JUG]

FLA727 has the right idea. Just do it. I've never had a great deal of success with CB on road trips. Apparently, others have succeeded beyond their wildest expectations. If it works, it works, if not, well it's no great loss.

 

[GadgetGeek]

It's nice to have a radio with scan function. When I'm traveling a scan function keeps me from missing any activity.

 

[slowmover]

Making a trip from Florida to Northeast Ohio in May so I'll have a chance to see what kind of highway traffic is out there.

IH-75 you mightn’t hear much on AM-19 till you get near Atlanta (this response assumes weekday travel). Drivers will want to know about the Scale Houses (note Mile Marker).

— It’ll be busy from there past Chattanooga (too much some days; stick with it).

— From there to Cincinnati its hit & miss. S of Cin and into Ohio to your destination (again, weekday daylight) you should have company the whole way.

Per my earlier: This is if you’ve installed a better than average antenna system and eliminated 12V noise.

If it’s a system for sorta average work, expect the “busy” above to change to “sorta regular” past the hot spots. (Search USDOT for road construction; note Mile Markers; anytime a lane is lost you’ll hear more talk).

DSP Speaker on mine means I can hear the truckers with dual final radios 7-12/miles out when there’s a whole lotta *****in’ goin’ on. (3-5/miles “typical rig”; if you can understand words).

— A 10’ minute backup isn’t of much interest, but when GPS shows 18” or so (miles-long) that’s when the best radio rigs will be using Commercial Carriers Road Atlas to find the best diversion route. The one which avoids the stupid people using WAZE & GOOGLE MAPs.

Height is Might: 6’8” Sirio Performer is what I’d want (no, doesn’t really stand out; surprisingly).

That’s maybe the important N-S interior USA Interstate as to population service. But not to the US economy: Wally World loads south and Ag loads going north. Neither pay well (Florida has ZERO future if things get bad).

So, you won’t hear that much radio traffic GENERALLY until into South Georgia as that road flows so well. There’ll be some near the Tampa-Orlando line, then it’ll fade off. Be sporadic.

CB SCANNER a good idea.

.

 

[FLA727]

This won't be no primo setup by any means! I will be in a rental vehicle and have a setup with a President McKinley in an ammo box for portability. It will be powered in an accessory port and I will have my Wilson 1000 mag mount. It has worked well in the past for other small temporary stuff but this will be the longest test. The McKinley has scan so maybe I will pickup some local traffic along the way not just an occasional trucker. I make this trip a couple times a year but always take 95 over to 77, never 75. Miles wise, it's shorter. Coming from the Tampa area so fortunately I don't have to get anywhere close to wally world!

 

[slowmover]

This won't be no primo setup by any means! I will be in a rental vehicle and have a setup with a President McKinley in an ammo box for portability. It will be powered in an accessory port and I will have my Wilson 1000 mag mount. It has worked well in the past for other small temporary stuff but this will be the longest test. The McKinley has scan so maybe I will pickup some local traffic along the way not just an occasional trucker. I make this trip a couple times a year but always take 95 over to 77, never 75. Miles wise, it's shorter. Coming from the Tampa area so fortunately I don't have to get anywhere close to wally world!

IH-95 can be surprisingly quiet until you get near both Savannah & Charleston where the locals running containers out of the ports keep up a steady chatter (weekdays). Black guys all at ease with each other.

IH-77 can be a cursed road for traffic backups all the way to the IH-81 split. Especially near the Fancy Gap grade into Virginia. Construction there caused me to do a long diversion recently. Local & Regional divers in North Carolina are a great bunch, and know their state.

So you like to run the WV Corkscrew Roller Coaster, huh? That can be an adventure there’s any weather at all. Tends to be (and the rest of your drive) nothing but locals on AM-19. That type of listening educates me about driving jobs I’ve not ever done (climate & terrain versus equipment, per se).

You do know you’re going almost past DX Engineering, right?

Would be worth it — to me — to try noise abatement on both the coax & power with some big snap-on MIX 61 toroids. (I buy from PALOMAR ENGINEERING).

My recent drive in a rental SUV from Chicago to Fort Worth had me laughing at how awful was the noise. Couldn’t hear for beans (didn’t use the DSP Speaker) using a Lil Wil. My expensive radio made no difference that mattered. (SWR spot on).

 

[slowmover]

Once on 77, start to use that scanner for other CB channels. That’s the part of the country (in & around Appalachians) I’ve heard the most non-19 radio traffic (Interstate-only travel).

 

[slowmover]

FLA727 has the right idea. Just do it. I've never had a great deal of success with CB on road trips. Apparently, others have succeeded beyond their wildest expectations. If it works, it works, if not, well it's no great loss.

No great loss?

One of these days a road back-up may be, “a mainly peaceful protest”. (Not if, but when).

One wants to drive into that, he can be my guest.

I hear that’s happening in Nashville (example) and I’m westbound on IH-40, I’ll divert north into Kentucky to continue on IH-64 as both Atlanta & Birmingham on IH-20 aren’t attractive alternatives at that point.

I want to do this as early as possible.

It’s typical that warnings on AM-19 extend no more than five (5) miles from a back-up. Rarely a full ten (10) miles, especially if it’s nothing extraordinary. Being able to hear about a problem 25-miles in advance (hearing a warning 10-miles out: 15-miles ahead of you) is of value without price.

There will be discussion of alternates on-air. But your rig will need the ears to decipher it (and will fail without DSP).

That’s time to pull over and consult a Rand-McNally Commercial Road Carriers Atlas (any chain truck stop) and plan your alternate route.

Your mobile rig might could use some TLC. If I can make it happen in a much more difficult big truck it should tell you a private vehicle has the greater performance potential with less effort & expense.

That one should “trust” Silicon Valley or D.C. isn’t an option any longer. It’s foolhardy. Google Maps & WAZE are for the clueless.

Hard-Mount
Hard-Wired
Noise Abatement
50-150W
DSP Audio Filter
13’ antenna height.
(McKinley + KL-203 + Sirio Performer + West Mtn CLEARSPEECH)

The day you need it is too late to have installed it.

Mobile Install Bible

.

 

[slowmover]

It’s those locals & regionals who know/recognize each other who’ll be discussing the alternate route far from the problem. Who’ll note & discuss what may be odd. The trained observers from the school of hard knocks. Our income depends on analysis of The Road.

There’s no substitute for HUMINT.

If you want to hear, you have to have the gear.

HAMs who disparage CB are the kin to trolls on the Internet. The hasbara who cause one to question motives one knew were right, even if inchoate. Who never learned to listen, rather, condemned what they’ve failed to understand.

Never had a real job.
As those have world penalties.

The family men running trucks may not always be evident, but you’ll hear them when the weirdness grows out-of-control.

Or not. Your choice.
.

 

[slowmover]

IN my area (Deer Park... east of Houston. It is a HIGHLY industrial area... chemical plants, petroleum plants and related industries) I think that one of the greatest uses these days.... is organizing/arranging entry of trucks in to facilities. It is an easy "trivially anonymous" means of communication with ANY truck that might be wanting access to load or unload. They inform these plants of arrival and readiness...and the plant operator tells them when to proceed in!

You ever get tired hearing Mean Green and some of his cronies who can screw up AM-19 on the east side of Houston the better part of the day?

.

 

[slowmover]

I’m a Trucker and I have one but rarely if ever do I even turn it on anymore, most of the time it’s a political battle like social media, plus the brotherhood that truckers enjoyed in years past is just not there as it used to be, I used to talk all the time with other drivers to keep each other awake but most use phones, it’s bad in the winter but you can’t convince this new breed of drivers to get on, and as far as bear reports after 2.5 million miles driving safe I get tired of no response after keying up so I quit trying, over powered radios were just part of the culture, we really don’t adhere to social norms and don’t really play well with others hence why we drive and to be honest I get more information on my SDS200 than I do on the CB, accidents etc, so I know where to go to avoid them, Waze killed the CB in my opinion

Brother, The Good News, is that fewer of the terminally-stupid are on-air compared to years past. Yeah, there’s that special set of jerks to be found in eastern Pennsylvania who kvetch endlessly about everyone else. The ones who maybe had a baby-daddy show up every so often.

My recent experience with a President Lincoln II+ is that it’s a radio which delivers such better audio quality (through a West Mountain Radio CLEARSPEECH DSP Speaker) that your experience of what you’re hearing will change.

1). Less fill-in-the-gap by the brain you may not realize is happening; and,

2). More vocal detail which reveals that emphasis is missing from lesser rigs reproduction.

3). (The Promise) This lowers aggravation. Not all content (word choice) is as bad as it sounds. It’s laziness sometimes, and it’s sly baiting other times. It’s easier to tell the difference.

Music better or worse from a single speaker in the dash, or from a multi-speaker stereo?
Detail matters.

CB is a new world with better gear.
DSP + applied ferrites.

 

[slowmover]

Seriously? Then you haven't listened enough. Heck, try FM on 10m and even there you can hear the difference. Way back in the day, my friend and I used to talk 30 miles or so base-to-base on 10m FM. Way better, and way more pleasant to listen to than AM.



Of course. Different bands for different uses. Not sure how old you are or how long you have been around, but when Solar Cycle 25 kicks off, CB is going to be utterly useless for local communications, except for very strong signals and late at night. If you want any sort of reliable local communications, you're going to be stuck using VHF/UHF.



The bands (GMRS or CB) will not be packed during a crisis. They aren't during earthquakes, they aren't during hurricanes, they aren't during tornados. Just not enough users to pack the bands.



Same could be said for the idiots illegally running CB amplifiers and export radios. That's the only popularity with CBs. It really is. You don't have a bunch of people sitting around running 4w radios. If you compare a 50w GMRS radio to a 4w CB, there is just no comparison. I used both in high school and college (well, CB and 2m/70cm ham simplex) and the difference is huge. Particularly around the general college area, CB would have all sorts of fading and range issues. Switch over and no such problems. Then we could get on repeaters and cover huge distances, reliably, every single time. You just can't do that reliably on CB.

The real popularity with FRS/GMRS is that you can buy cheap bubble pack handheld radios that are actually efficient. CB handhelds don't work worth a darn. Then you get to antennas. Most people don't want a 5+ foot antenna on their car. 6 inch? Sure. I see people (particularly convoys) out here with 1/4 wave GMRS mag mounts all the time. A 1/4 wave is 6 inches tall.

It really comes down to different tools for different jobs. That's why ham radio is so wonderful. There is a reliable band for DX, local comms., and everything in between, every single day of the week, 24/7. It's a fascinating thing.

To get back on topic, I have taken so many roadtrips over the years. I-5 from San Diego to Canada, I-15 from LA to Vegas and Salt Lake City, I-40 eastbound to Florida. There's just no traffic at all. You get occassional locals here and there, occassional truckers, but absolutely nothing close to what it used to be. Oklahoma City was probably the most used that I have heard, and a bit in Florida. Outside of that, CB is officially dead. There are pockets of use here and there, but by and large dead.

Sounds like you live too far west. N-S on IH-5 isn’t ever busy, nor is 99. But I’ve not failed to raise someone on the trips I’ve made in & out of California the past few years.

It helps to understand that not a great deal of loads enter the West Coast compared to what occurs from the 98th Parallel and east (per capita).

As to the E-W traffic, many are team runs where the drivers barely give a damn anymore as they never get adequate rest. That’s a slave job.

The rest is increasingly the paperwork Americans and green card holders who haven’t enough English command to be comfortable on-air. Central Valley produce haulers. Who truly don’t give a hoot except for what their skim produces, anyway.

Some areas it’s cultural. But to call the rest “pockets” in the 48 just shows general unfamiliarity. The Interior West won’t ever have much. No one lives there. It’s not The Great American Desert for nothing.

Still:
There are always more radios turned on than is evident, even where language is a barrier.

.

 

[FLA727]

Heck, a big part of why I am getting back into CB is for reasons like when technology fails, comms will go down at some point. I'm also on the watch for those "peaceful protestors" 🤦‍♂️. I drive right past DX Engineering, I just didn't realize they were in the Summit Racing building, that's about 20 minutes from my destination. Might have to make a shopping list especially since I am also working on a base install at the Ohio house but time and money 😁

 

[slowmover]

I can confirm that in my area north of Philly where the Pennsylvania Turnpike meets the New Jersey Turnpike and intersects with I-95, I-295 and Route 1 which for decades and decades has been a very heavy trucking area with many truck stops with many 18 wheelers on the road here, very quiet. Sounds like Channel 9 used to sound in the day. Nothing.

Can't remember the last time I saw a CB radio antenna on an 18-wheeler. All the cb shops are closed too.

What percentage of the NYC/Philly economy was manufacturing at your startpoint in time, and what is it now? This isn’t 1983.

Thr trucks still have CBs, and there can be a fair amount of chatter from your location N to the 287 Loop, but as every driver from the rest of America hates your locals, many if not most radios are turned off.

Hauling crap from container ships is bottom-of-the-barrel truck driving. That’s describes most of what’s there.

Long distance truck driving from the NE USA disappeared with that manufacturing.

To your area and out to middle Long Island the loads for daily/weekly service moved to eastern PA long ago. WaWa and Dollar Store crap. All the chains, as independent businesses got driven out.

The traffic you miss shifted out to IH-81 the better part of a decade ago. Comes in/out IH-80 & IH-78. IH-95 is a ghost road you take away container runs and chain store delivery.

The long runs (from the Midwest and elsewhere) deliver to Allentown, etc., to Regional Distribution Centers. From there it’s placed aboard private fleet vans and run to their stores in the metro.

This is the pattern in the rest of the country. Suffice it to say no one in trucking can afford the traffic congestion of major metros. Things get delivered to the outskirts and day cab/ short vans take it from there, in main.

All loads are palletized. Fast load & unload. Very much of a 53’ might be one single product category.

The independent or contracted owner/operator family men making those eastern PA to Garden City, NY runs a few days a week —and a similar destination the others — are just keeping a local larder stocked. 48-hours worth. They know every foot of the very mile. Can look out the window to tell you the time.

Same is true for private fleet. Too many workplace rules and time-constraints so as to be home every night to be on-air much.

Sure ain’t got the time of day for Joisy.

What percentage of the metro population lives on welfare, crime, Social Security, Disability, or other transfer payments (pension; stocks, etc)? Like Florida . . you’re screwed the hammer comes down. Service Industry ain’t a substitute for manufacturing. Fast Food Frank feeding Forklift Fred ain’t an economy.

The big trucks bypass NYC & Philly. New England gets served from up near Albany, NY.
Otherwise it’s by sea can.

Produce is about the only exception given high speed scheduled runs to a few points close-in. Those guys get paid beans and don’t speak English anyway.

Other “food” is by ingredient-mixing far, far away and trucked in as above. Meat is processed from far away. Dairy is brought in from hundreds of miles away.

Your favorite pasta? I carried 19-tons of it from Texas to Harrisburg, packaged and palletized to a general RDC. From there it went out in little box trucks or to the chain warehouses.

This is the meaning of “logistics”.
Just-in-Time Delivery.

To get out of there we’ll hit another type of RDC: paper products or to a paper mill. Chain store load that came in by sea can to a store inland. Shuttle a big box store load further south or north. The stuff their local drivers don’t want as it’s several days drive there and back.

Nothing from high-value local manufacture.

.

 

[i386]

I can confirm that in my area north of Philly where the Pennsylvania Turnpike meets the New Jersey Turnpike and intersects with I-95, I-295 and Route 1 which for decades and decades has been a very heavy trucking area with many truck stops with many 18 wheelers on the road here, very quiet. Sounds like Channel 9 used to sound in the day. Nothing.

Can't remember the last time I saw a CB radio antenna on an 18-wheeler. All the cb shops are closed too.

I still see very few trucks with CB antennas. And I see some trucks with a Fiberglass Antenna looks factory mounted. I am not sure if that's a CB or a FM/AM radio antenna. But if it's CB I would not want it factory mounted. I would want my own 2 antennas installed on the mirror's like a CB antenna should be. If those are CB Antennas I bet the SWR is high.