Activity on the Interstates

[kk9h]

Over the past couple weeks my wife and I travelled twice between Chicago and Ann Arbor, MI via I-94. I had my CB running on Ch.19 each time and heard very very little activity. During one leg of one trip the Michigan State Police were really out in force with no less than seven of them counted in the median or on entrance ramps between the Indiana state line and Kalamazoo. Not one of them was reported over the air other than my reporting a couple of them myself. About the only traffic we did hear were a couple of drivers having a chat while going the other direction and a conversation between a couple of local base stations near Battle Creek. Is this pretty much the new norm for CB activity on the Interstates these days?

 

[KK4JUG]

Yep. In my experience, that's pretty much it.

 

[FPR1981]

Not in Ohio. Channel 19 is still pretty active.

 

[FLA727]

I guess it just depends on the time of day and your area. CH 19 here in the Tampa Bay area has moderate traffic based on the times I am listening but we also have a local group of CBer's that are very active on a few channels albeit some seem to be annoying but sometimes humorous in their childish antics.

 

[kk9h]

I probably should have mentioned that these trips took place during regular weekday mornings eastbound and Sunday afternoons westbound when there was a fair amount of traffic on the road.

 

[FPR1981]

I guess it just depends on the time of day and your area. CH 19 here in the Tampa Bay area has moderate traffic based on the times I am listening but we also have a local group of CBer's that are very active on a few channels albeit some seem to be annoying but sometimes humorous in their childish antics.

Couldn't be any more childish than some of the garbage on 80 meters late at night.

 

[trentbob]

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.

 

[wtp]

for real activity, you are about 40 years too late...

 

[mmckenna]

Is this pretty much the new norm for CB activity on the Interstates these days?

My experience from a few years ago is that truckers don't use CB anywhere as much as they did. There are local pockets of traffic, but again, nothing like it was back in the 1980's or even early 1990's.

I have heard truckers talking to each other, but not the random contacts, traffic reports, smokey reports, etc. I'm sure it still happens in some areas, but in the Western USA, I've not heard it in a very long time. I didn't install a CB in my new truck, just wasn't worth it for monitoring in the places I frequent.

 

[KK4JUG]

There are at least a couple of reasons not to have a CB. Cars are better-made and the likelihood of a breakdown is lessened and you'd probably use your cell phone anyway. While there are still pockets of "no service," they're becoming fewer and fewer.

Also GPS units (Tom Tom, Garmin, etc.) include traffic information. They can advise you of a traffic jam while you're twenty miles or more away. Furthermore, they can route you around it if necessary. CB can't do all that. Some GPS units will find service stations, restaurants, parks, airports...well, the list goes on.

 

[Duckford]

Couldn't be any more childish than some of the garbage on 80 meters late at night.

Sitting on 80 meters last night, "reading the mail". One part of LSB made the CB crew look downright grown up and respectable. As moral and right wing-order and respectability as I am, even I find those types very entertaining. The "true heroes" of 80 meters.

As for CB activity on the roads, out of all my monitoring of the 11 meter band this past several months, I found that all of the "non CB truckers" out there suddenly all came to life when there was a severe wind storm. Suddenly people knew what the radio was and how to work it. In fact, you read several forums like this one and you see some road travelers say the same thing, they still turn their mostly inactive rigs back on when there is trouble with weather and other conditions.

CB has lost a lot of social nature as people want to move back to more intimate interpersonal communication via cell phone, rather than the "party line" anonymous and random contacts they get over radio. But, when folks need to contact random local people for information, the service still has value.

 

[mmckenna]

..well, the list goes on.

And you can set the turn by turn direction voice to a nice soft female voice, rather than a 2 pack a day trucker on a CB with over modulated audio and sound effects.

 

[russbrill]

My experience from a few years ago is that truckers don't use CB anywhere as much as they did. There are local pockets of traffic, but again, nothing like it was back in the 1980's or even early 1990's.

I have heard truckers talking to each other, but not the random contacts, traffic reports, smokey reports, etc. I'm sure it still happens in some areas, but in the Western USA, I've not heard it in a very long time. I didn't install a CB in my new truck, just wasn't worth it for monitoring in the places I frequent.

Sigh, most people are "Phone Zombies" nowadays

 

[russbrill]

And you can set the turn by turn direction voice to a nice soft female voice, rather than a 2 pack a day trucker on a CB with over modulated audio and sound effects.

I agree, I think the Noise Toys killed a lot of the interest in CB..

 

[mmckenna]

I agree, I think the Noise Toys killed a lot of the interest in CB..

Yeah, I have a 2 year old grand-neice that has toys that make those sounds. I don't need to buy a radio to hear them.

I think for hobby use, CB is a great tool.
For business/pro-driver use, there's better things out there that provide a lot more function. As KK4JUG said, turn by turn directions, traffic avoidance, locations of fuel including price, all on a device that will play music, watch TV and provide 2 way communications to anywhere in the world, and about the same price as a good CB and antenna.

 

[FPR1981]

There are at least a couple of reasons not to have a CB. Cars are better-made and the likelihood of a breakdown is lessened and you'd probably use your cell phone anyway. While there are still pockets of "no service," they're becoming fewer and fewer.

Also GPS units (Tom Tom, Garmin, etc.) include traffic information. They can advise you of a traffic jam while you're twenty miles or more away. Furthermore, they can route you around it if necessary. CB can't do all that. Some GPS units will find service stations, restaurants, parks, airports...well, the list goes on.

Abandoning CB in a semi makes only slightly less sense than police, fire and EMS abandoning radios. You cannot randomly call other truckers on the same road you are on with your cell phone or Garmin, just as cops cannot phone dispatch while driving.

I have many trucker friends in my circle and every last one of them says that CB will never disappear from rigs entirely, and that not having one puts you at a disadvantage.

One of my friends is a CDL holder who drove over the road before going into a management position with a large trucking company that did away with CB's for a while.

After a couple of years, and fueled by drivers complaints, the CB's returned.

CB radio is a wonderful tool for the open road and a better hobby than some want to give it credit.

 

[mmckenna]

After a couple of years, and fueled by drivers complaints, the CB's returned.

Yeah, I don't think I've seen many OTR trucks without CB antennas. Just don't hear the traffic on the interstates like I used to. It's still a great tool, just not the social interaction there was 30 years ago. At least not from the truckers.

I was through a couple of truck stops last week. Every single one of them still sells CB's and CB antennas. But they are in the same glass display case as the GPS units. Technology has advanced and there's a number of great options out there. Things we could have never dreamed of 30 years ago. It's really nice being able to pull up Diesel fuel prices along the way and planning out stops to get the best price.

 

[FPR1981]

On my way home from a band gig, 1:30 a.m. and I stop at a truck stop for food and end up leaving with $100 worth of CB gear, lol

 

[KANE4109]

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!

 

[GadgetGeek]

Not like it used to be. Even as recent as the last 10-15 years I've noticed a decline in activity.