Added a cb to the Freightliner.

[highwayman1224]

So, what's your CB handle?

The Fisherman

 

[darkness975]

I hear the same few guys now and then on CB. Presumably when they are near me en route or stopped. I don't hear CB traffic consistently.

Of course my location isn't the best either.

 

[colodak]

On one of the trucking forums I'm on, there are several guys on there with HAM setup's, all are owner operators, as companies are really cracking down any more on some of these setups, especially the sketchy wiring jobs. Friend went to work recently for a company that doesn't have inverters in the trucks, he asked to install one they said no, when he talked to the shop about it, they said the company had lost 3 or 4 trucks in recent years to improperly installed inverters, so now they were prohibited. The shop was required to inspect all trucks for inverters or add-on wiring during PM's, then photograph, report and remove them.

Also, some states are cracking down on distracted driving, and adding much more than a cellphone and CB that is visible while driving can lead to more hassles than they are worth.

 

[highwayman1224]

On one of the trucking forums I'm on, there are several guys on there with HAM setup's, all are owner operators, as companies are really cracking down any more on some of these setups, especially the sketchy wiring jobs. Friend went to work recently for a company that doesn't have inverters in the trucks, he asked to install one they said no, when he talked to the shop about it, they said the company had lost 3 or 4 trucks in recent years to improperly installed inverters, so now they were prohibited. The shop was required to inspect all trucks for inverters or add-on wiring during PM's, then photograph, report and remove them.

My company has inverters built in but only allow us to use them for 2 hours in a 24 hour period. They have a timer built in somewhere. Kinda ridiculous...

 

[slowmover]

My company has inverters built in but only allow us to use them for 2 hours in a 24 hour period. They have a timer built in somewhere. Kinda ridiculous...

Last couple of trucks I’ve been assigned had either an APU or a second battery bank. Run the voltage down and either the APU or engine would Auto-Start to bring the charge back up (this mainly had to do with running the separate sleeper HVAC system).

Whrn I started driving it was pretty much a rule to NOT use the CB unless the engine was running. Those days, the engine might not get turned off for a few weeks except to check engine fluid levels. (I don’t miss trying to sleep with that going on).

Voltage Drop is the thing these days. 13.5V quickly turns into 12.2V before those battery-saving programs kick in, or the system disconnects the batteries ( four or six lead acid) so that engine-start is still assured.

IOW, the times one might most want to operate a radio is when parked (can be a lot of that; from loading/unloading to waiting for a new dispatch to being stuck for a couple of days), and Auto Engine Shutdown (No Idle) limits periods of full battery voltage.

At some locations one can plug into shore power. But that’s pretty much only a company terminal or at home if one has the NEMA 5-20 adaptor and a 30A circuit to work with (as with an RV park). Circuit length drags that option down pretty quickly (keeps batteries charged, though).

 

[darkness975]

So they're forcing out the use of CB.
Great. Make sure anything fun is ruined and removed.