Savvy Transport, Inc.
Savvy Transport, Inc.
FedEx service marks used by permission
Glossary of Trucking Business and Financial Terms
Add On Interest: An interest charge added to a base interest charge.
Agricultural Authority: A special type of operating authority granted to owner operators by the ICC. It allows owner operators who haul produce to also haul regulated commodities on their backhaul provided that the number of hauls of regulated commodities does not exceed the number of hauls of exempt produce.
All-Risk Cargo Insurance: Does not mean any and every possible risk; only certain common risks. Generally not available to owner operators.
Amortization: The gradual payment of a debt or the writing off of intangible assets over a period of time as they expire.
Assets: Future economic benefits obtained as a result of past transactions.
Audit of freight bills: The process of verifying the transportation charges shown on the carrier's freight bill as reasonable.
Average gross revenue per loaded mile: Total payment received per mile traveled with a load.
Axle Weight: Weight carried by one axle.
Backhaul: A haul that returns you to home or base of operation.
Balance sheet: A financial statement listing all assets, liabilities and owner's equity at a certain date.
BBC: The distance from the truck's front bumper to the back of its cab.
Billed weight: The weight shown on a freight bill.
Bill of lading: Written transportation contract between shipper and carrier; it identifies who receives the freight and the place of delivery. It also gives terms of the agreement.
Bobtail: A tractor operating without a trailer.
Bobtail Insurance: Insurance covering accidents during non trucking use (i.e., not hauling a load; during maintenance service, etc.
Bridge Formula: Federal regulation of how far apart the axles must be to legally carry a given weight.
Broker: A person who arranges loads for owner/operators
Bulk Freight: Unpackaged freight, (for example, petroleum products)
Burden of proof: The obligation to prove disputed facts at issue in a legal proceeding.
Cargo Insurance: Insurance on the freight paid for by the carrier.
Carrier: A person, partnership or corporation engaged in the business of transporting goods.
Carrier's Lien: Carrier's claim on property it has transported as security for charges.
Cash Advance: Money received from carrier generally used for fuel and deducted from owner operator's final settlement check.
Cash flow: Ready cash (net income plus set aside cash, as for depreciation).
Cash Disbursement Journal: A journal for keeping track of money being paid out.
Cash Receipts Journal: A journal for keeping track of money coming into a business.
CDL: Commercial Driver's License: A license which authorizes an individual to operate commercial motor vehicles over 26,000 pounds gross vehicle weight.
Chargeable Accidents: An accident that a driver could have prevented whether or not it was his fault.
Charge backs: Those temporary costs assumed by the carrier for independent contractors. It is understood through the lease that these costs will be charged back to the independent contractor usually at settlement.
Clearing House: An organization set up to process and collect bills for participating trucking companies.
COE: Cab-Over-Engine: Truck/tractor design where the cab sits over the engine on the chassis.
Collateral: A pledge of security for borrowing money, usually a material possession.
Commodity: Any article of commerce, including raw material, manufactured or grown products.
Common Authority: Certificate from the ICC that allows the holder to haul regulated commodities in a for-hire trucking operation.
Common Carriers' Insurance: Insurance that covers transportation company's liability for loss of, or damage to, cargo or property being transported by them.
Consignee: The person or firm to whom articles are shipped.
Consignor: The person or firm who shipped the product.
Containerization: A shipping system based on large cargo carrying containers that can be easily interchanged between trucks.
Contract Carrier: Truckers who are providing dedicated service under contract to specific shippers using an ICC certificate.
Credit Life Insurance: A policy covering a buyer's life, until the truck is paid off, thus guarantees payment
CVSA: Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance: An organization of federal, state and provincial government agencies and representatives from private industry dedicated to improving commercial safety.
Deadheading: Operating a truck with no load.
Depreciation: A decrease in value (usually for tax purposes); a reduction or loss in exchange for value or purchasing power.
Detention (Demurrage): Detention of a vehicle beyond the time normally allowed for loading, unloading, etc.
Disability Insurance: Insurance policy that covers income if a truck driver is unable to work for a few weeks or more.
Discretionary Income: Amount of money left after expenses.
Dispatcher: A person who schedules and controls intercity traffic and intracity pickup and delivery.
D.O.T.: United States Department of Transportation
Doubles: A tractor with two semi trailers connected in tandem by a converter dolly.
Drayage: Trucking goods from a warehouse to a rail yard or vice versa. Drayage is the trucking component of intermodal transportation.
Escrow: Money held in trust by a third person with directions to use it for a specific purpose.
Exempt Carrier: Truckers hauling certain commodities that are exempt that may be transported in both interstate and intrastate commerce without operating authority ICC.
Exempt Commodity: Commodities that are moved interstate and intrastate by truck and not subject to regulation (i.e., any fresh fruit or vegetables except bananas)
Fixed Costs: Costs that have a long life, such as truck payment, mortgage, insurance, etc.
FOB: Free on Board: Usually indicates place where responsibility for expenses and risk for goods is passed from seller to buyer.
Forced Dispatch: Being forced to take a load whether the driver wants to or not.
401K: An income fund set aside to supplement or provide for retirement benefits.
Freight: Any commodity being transported.
Freight Bill: Document for a shipment with the description of the freight, weight, charges, rate for charges, taxes and whether it is a prepaid or collect shipment.
Freight Charge: Payment due for the transportation of the freight
Fuel taxes: Taxes paid to each state a vehicle runs in based on miles driven in that state.
GCW: Gross Combination Weight: Total weight of tractor- trailer combinations, including trucks, trailers and payload.
GVW: Gross Vehicle Weight: Total weight of the loaded vehicle, including chassis, body and payload. Used to refer to the maximum GVW allowed by D.O.T. regulations.
Glider Kit: Truck that has been rebuilt, particularly component wise.
Health Insurance: Medical and Hospitalization insurance.
ICC: Interstate Commerce Commission: The federal body charged with enforcement of acts of Congress affecting interstate commerce.
IFTA: International Fuel Tax Agreement A system of centralized fuel tax payment allowing truckers to pay all state fuel taxes to a collection agency. This agency disburses funds to each state or provincial agency based on the total miles you reported traveling in each state.
Independent Contractors: Independent contractors are owner operators who lease themselves and their vehicles to trucking companies regulated by the ICC.
Individual Variable Costs: Costs that are variable and peculiar to a specific trucking operation such as accounting fees, helper wages, personal road expenses, etc.
Intermodal: Transportation movement involving more than one mode, example, rail motor, motor air, or rail water
Interstate: Between states
Intrastate: Within a state
Jackknife: Placing the tractor/trailer at a very sharp angle resulting from lock-up of tractor drive axle(s).
Lading: The freight in a truck
Layover Time: The time a driver spends not working and away from his home terminal before he is sent to another destination.
Lease purchase: Method of purchasing a rig (usually from a regulated carrier), whereby some of the rent paid to the carrier for the privilege of using the cab is applied to the principal owed by the owner operator.
Liabilities: Future items that may become obligations under certain conditions. The obligations arise from past transactions or events.
Liability Insurance: Insurance that covers any third party injuries or damages.
Line Haul: The movement of freight between distant points. It does not include pickup and delivery service, or intracity delivery.
Loaded Mile: Distance traveled with paid freight in a trailer.
Logbook: Drivers book containing daily hours, routes, etc. They are required by DOT regulation.
LTL: Less Than Truckload: A quantity of freight that is less than required for the application of a truckload rate.
Lumpers: Helpers hired to load/unload freight
Manifest: A document describing a shipment or the contents of a vehicle
MCSAP: The Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program: Federal Government program distributing monies to help states conduct effective truck inspection and safety efforts.
MCS-90: A document that shows proof of adequate insurance
NTSB: The National Transportation Safety Board: A Federal Government organization charged with investigating accidents in every sector of transportation, suggesting ways of improving transportation safety through effective regulatory requirements, and reporting on its findings and conclusions to Congress.
Operating Expenses: Expenses needed to move freight, such as, cost of fuel, equipment, labor, permits, etc.
Operating ratio: Total operating expenses divided by gross freight revenue. An operating ratio of "90" means that a trucker makes a profit of ten cents for every dollar spent.
Orientation Time: Training time required to learn specific rules under which a carrier operates.
OTR: Over the road drivers.
Owner Operator: A person who owns one or more trucks and personally drives at least one of them. Also known as a small fleet owner operator if more than one vehicle is owned.
Payload: Total weight of the commodity carried on a truck including packaging, banding, etc.
Permanent Lease: A lease for at least 30 days where an owner operator leases himself and his equipment to a regulated carrier.
Permits: Permission granted to carriers by states to transport freight exceeding legal weight and size limits.
PIP: Personal Injury Protection: An insurance policy that provides personal injury protection
PMs: Preventive maintenance inspection
Pre Trip Inspection: A walk around inspection of a truck that every driver is required to perform prior to every trip in a commercial vehicle. This involves following a complete check list related to the particular type of vehicle being inspected. The pre-trip inspection is considered by experts to be one of the most neglected, potentially effective means of improving truck safety.
Principal: Actual amount of money borrowed; the amount that interest will be applied to a loan.
Private Carrier: A company that has its own trucks to transport its own freight.
Pro Rate: To distribute proportionately.
Rate: The charge for transporting freight
Recourse Agreement: An agreement between buyer and seller whereby if a buyer defaults on payments and the truck is repossessed, the selling dealer must buy the truck from the lender for the unpaid balance. The dealer can sue the former owner for the balance if it is more than the truck is worth.
Regulated commodities: Commodities that are transported under governmental regulation.
Regulated Common carrier: Carriers that transport general commodities that are regulated by the ICC.
Rider Policy: An insurance policy provision that provides coverage to a passenger in a commercial vehicle.
Road Use Taxes: Annual federal tax applied to each vehicle.
Scale (Weigh) Station: A place where trucks are weighed to ensure that GVW and axle weights are below permissible levels.
Settlement: A net amount paid for hauling a load.
Surcharge: A charge above the usual or customary charge.
Surtax: An additional or extra tax.
Tandem: An assembly of two axles, either of which may be powered.
Tariff: A published rate for hauling goods
TL: Truckload: A full or nearly full trailer of goods. Usually the shipment is made without stopover to load/unload.
Transportation Insurance: This insurance covers loss to shippers because of an accident to goods in transit.
Trip Lease: A one trip only lease.
Trip Lease Operators: Owner operators who haul for a different carrier or broker each trip.
Trip Record: A record of each trip which includes expenses and revenue.
Trip Recorder: On- Board Computer - Cab mounted device which records data such as speed, engine rpm, idle time and any other information that may be useful to trucking management.
U.S. DOT Number: Vehicle Registration Number. U.S Dot numbers are supplied without charge, and are required for all vehicles exceeding 10,000 lbs. GVW or GCW.
Variable costs: Equipment operating expenses which vary from trip to trip. (For example, fuel, repairs, tires.)
Workers' Compensation: Compensation for work related injuries not covered by hospitalization
alligator, n. a piece of tire in road. looks like an alligator sunning itself across the road.
alligator radio/station, n. a radio that can transmit well, but has poor reception -its like an alligator in that it is "all mouth and no ears".
aardvark, n. a Kenworth T-600 (also known as an anteater.
back door, pron. behind you or to the rear ("you got a bear about a mile back on your back door")
back out, adj. I have finished talking and will now unkey. ("this is [name] and I'm back out")
back quiet, adj. I have finished my transmission and you may proceed when ready
bear, n. generic term for a law enforcement officer
- full blown bear, state trooper
- countie mountie, sheriff's deputy
- city kitty, city police
- diesel cop/D.O.T. man, D.M.V. enforcement (these guys pull four wheelers too!)
better half, n. your spouse, ie. your wife/husband.
big road, n. a major highway (I40,I85,I95, etc.)
big truck, n. an 18 wheeler. More specifically, a long nose - cab over - all dudded up diesel truck.<
bird dog, n. a radar detector
bobtail, n. a cab with no trailer attached.
brake check, v. traffic that is slowing down. It seems that four wheelers will hit their brakes and slow down in the middle of the
interstate for no apparent reason, other than to make sure that their brakes still work, hence a "brake check".
break, v. proper way to gain access to a busy channel (i.e. "break 19 for a radio check")
boss man, n. your immediate superior/supervisor at work
bubba, n. a not-so-formal version of good neighbor
bull city, n. Durham, NC
capital city, n. Raleigh, NC
channel 9, n. "emergency channel"
channel 19, n. the unofficially official "truckers" channel.
chicken coop, n. weigh stations
container, n. A shipping container from overseas ( "How about that south bound container. You got a copy?")
cottonpicker, n. a male bonding term for a friend of yours (positive sense) - can also be used as a mild insult, the equivalent of
"jerk" (derogatory sense).
dead head, v. to haul an empty truck. Driving empty means you usually are not getting paid for the trip, you have to drive
somewhere to get a load.
diesel car, n. a "real" truck (18 wheeler)
do what?, v. I did not copy/understand your last transmission, could you please repeat it ?
double nickel, n. means 55, usually in reference to inquiries about the speed limit.
driver, n. refers to the person you were talking to / the radio operator receiving your transmissions.
eighty fifth street, n. refers to I85
fire in the wire, n. this means an amplified AM transmission see note 1 (see also foot warmer, side piece)
flat bed, n. a flat bed truck
flip flop, v. a U-turn ( "Full blown bear did a flip - flop and is south bound and hammered down"). Can also mean the return trip (
i.e. "catch you on the flip - flop").
FM, n. am/fm radio ( the term radioby itself refers to the CB )
foot warmer, n. refers to a linear amplifier (see also side piece, fire in the wire) note 1
forty two, v. I understand and agree with you. ("Forty-Two, driver, I heard that idea, I did!")
*four wheeler, n. anyone who is not a trucker (specifically - a car). This term is usually preceded bby ssome form of an expletive
(i.e. a "swear word") as truckers are not always impressed by the way some four wheelers drive. This term is not always meant in
a bad way as truckers call all cars four - wheelers
front door, pron. in front of you or to the front ("you got a bear about 2 miles on your front door")
gold city, n. Goldsboro, NC
*good buddy, n. a term no longer used unless you are deliberately trying to annoy someone (it now means homosexual)
good neighbor, n. same as driver the person you are talking with (this has replaced "good buddy")
hammer lane, n. left lane of traffic
hammer down, v., adj. vehicle moving fast ("smokey west bound and hammered down"). Also make a car move fast ("Hammer
down driver").
hand, n. same as driver. ("preeshaydit there hand.") I have no idea where this came from, but they call each other things like Hand,
or Bubba, or Driver.
handle, pron. your name on the CB radio - kind of a call sign so that others recognize you.
happy happy, n. means happy new year ( "have a great happy happy")
home twenty, n. dwelling. In particular, the person talking's house, apartment, condo, etc.
key down, v. when you try to talk over someone that is transmitting. Also a type of competition where the biggest radio wins!
landline, o. Telephone/ telephone call.
linear, n. a linear amplifier. This is the type of amplifier that is used to amplify an AM transmission. note 1
local/local information, n, call for local information (" break for some local information ").
log book, n. it's a diary for truckers/one of the things they check at the chicken coops (4 wheelers wouldn't understand)
meatwagon, n. name for an ambulance.
merry merry, n. means merry Christmas (" have a wonderful merry merry")
modulator, n. a type of amplifier used for AM transmissions. note 1
moving on, v. means you have quit jabbin' and are now driving (see also stepping on, rolling on)
mud duck, n. a really weak/poor radio signal
ninety fifth street, n. I95
nodamene?, interj. do you understand what I am saying? (right? works here too )
no doubt, interj. the truth of your last statement is undeniable
parking lot, n. a truck that is used to transport several cars "piggy back"
pickemup truck, n. a pick up truck
plain wrapper, n. term for an unmarked police car....can also use color of car, ie. "blue wrapper" (see also bear).
preeshaydit, adj. thank you very much
queen city, n. Charlotte, NC
radio, n. a CB, ie. "what kind of radio are you talking on?"
radio check, n. a call to see if your radio is working
rascal, n. term identifying a person that is known by the speaker ("That rascal owes me money ").
REACT, n. nation wide group of volunteers who monitor channel 9 for emergency traffic
readin' the mail, v. just listening to the CB ( not actively talking )
right?, interj. what truckers end almost every sentence with (it seems they like to talk in questions)."ROGER" can be substituted
here.
roger, interj. means "yes" or "OK"
rolling on, v. same as steppin' on (not used that much)
sand bagging , v. to listen in on a channel without talking
shoot you in the back/tail pipe/gastank, v. police operating radar (usually from an exit ramp) as you drive past them
short short, n. a short amount of time
side piece, n. also refers to a linear amplifier (see also foot warmer, fire in the wire) note 1
skip, n. CB ( and other short-wave frequencies ) tend to be reflected from the atmosphere. These transmissions can be heard
many miles from the source of the transmission. This is called " skip " note 2
speed limit, n. what a four wheeler is constantly unaware of ( besides being oblivious to surrounding traffic). A four wheeler will
travel five miles an hour below the posted limit if a state trooper is following them, because it is suddenly extremely important that
they obey the law for some reason (they haven't obeyed it before,why start now? )
stand on it, v. accelerate with a quickness
stepping on, v. means same as (see also moving on, rolling on)
taking pictures, v. police operating a radar gun
ten-four, pron. means "OK"/ "YES"
ten-twenty, pron. location
ten-thirty three, pron. emergency
ten-thirty six, pron. call for correct time
turkey day, n. thanksgiving
turn signal, n. a light on the back of a vehicle which indicates future direction of movement. This is the one piece of equipment
that a four wheeler will only use if there is a police officer immediately behind him, otherwise, the four wheelers simply forget they have one ( although they seem to be aware that the cruise control is mounted on the little stick thingy.)
walked on ya, v. someone keyed up with you and your transmission was unintelligible
whachyathank?, interj. similar to right? when used at the end of the sentence ("I gotta go to work early tomorrow, whatchathank?").
yard, n. name for the parking lot of a driver's company ("sitting here in the yard, waiting to load up")
yardstick, n. name for mile marker on major highways
Trucker Slang
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