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What's your CB handle?
Nobody on channel 19 went by their real name. Tell us where you're from, what you drive and one thing that gives you away, and we'll hand you a handle and the radio call to go with it.
What is a CB handle?
A handle is the nickname a driver uses on citizens band radio. When CB radio turned into a national craze in the mid-1970s, truckers and everyday drivers alike picked handles that said something about them: where they hauled, what they drove, or a habit everyone on the road already knew about.
Channel 19 became the unofficial truckers' channel, and songs like C.W. McCall's "Convoy" and movies like "Smokey and the Bandit" carried the slang far beyond the truck stops. If you want to see what life inside those cabs looked like, read our guide to 1970s semi truck cabs, CB radios and twin sticks.
CB slang cheat sheet
- Breaker one-nine
- Asking to talk on channel 19, the truckers' channel.
- 10-4
- Message received, understood.
- Smokey
- A state trooper or highway patrol.
- Hammer down
- Foot on the floor, moving fast.
- Good buddy
- A friendly way to address another driver.
- Ratchet jaw
- Someone who won't stop talking on the radio.
- Got your ears on?
- Are you listening to your radio?
- Shiny side up
- Drive safe, keep the truck on its wheels.
Handles are generated for fun and may be written with the help of AI. Your first name is optional; each result gets its own link so you can share it, and anyone with that link can see it. More from Speed of Daily: classic big rig guides.