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14.4.2023

Trucker Talk - Common Logistics Phrases And Slang Terms

Slang and jargon can be heard in almost any industry. When specific phrases are used every day, they become part of the language of the business itself. The transportation and logistics industry is no exception, and there are plenty of colorful terms and acronyms used by truck drivers, dispatchers, and warehouse workers which would sound completely alien to anyone who is unfamiliar with this type of work.

Trucker Talk - Common Logistics Phrases And Slang Terms

Truck drivers, in particular, are known for using a range of slang terms to describe things they encounter every day on their shifts. That’s why we’ve assembled this handy dictionary of trucker slang phrases to help you speak like a seasoned road hauler. But before you can use the lingo, you should know a bit about what a job as a truck driver entails.

Road Rules Apply

The life of a truck driver is not for everyone. The hours can be long, and your day might start very early (or very late for those who drive the night shift). You might be required to spend days at a time away from home. Depending on whether or not your truck has a sleeper cabin, you may typically end up sleeping in your vehicle. It can often be a long and lonely road.

Fortunately, there are also established rules within EU countries (also followed in most other European countries) which govern things like driving times and required rest periods. These rules generally apply to all professional trucking and transportation drivers throughout Europe, although some exceptions do apply. They state that long-haul drivers can only work for 9 hours per day (twice a week up to 10 hours) and up to 56 hours per week (with a maximum limit of 90 hours every two weeks). Under the same rules, working time includes not just driving, but all road transport activities. This applies to loading and unloading of goods (or monitoring these activities), cleaning and technical maintenance of your vehicle, and administrative formalities.  

The same rules also entitle a driver to an uninterrupted weekly rest period of at least 45 hours, which cannot be spent in your vehicle, so you won’t have to worry about living out of the cab of your truck (even if it may feel that way sometimes). Drivers are required to use a tachograph to register every trip, which records vehicle movement, speed, and hours of use and helps ensure that the rules are followed. Authorities can check this tachograph anytime and anywhere, whether on the roadside or on company premises.

Same Shift, Different Load

While some parts of a transport driver’s job are specific to the type of vehicle they operate and the products or materials they haul, the basic aspects of a typical shift are the same for most truckers. For example, every trucker will be involved with the process of loading and unloading their vehicle at some point during a shift, whether they’re actually providing the labor or just making sure that a shipment is received properly and accounted for. Drivers will also usually communicate with a dispatcher for the details of their assignment, and coordinate with a company’s administrative function to provide the necessary paperwork.
These standard aspects found throughout the transportation and logistics industry have given birth to acronyms, words and phrases which may seem like a foreign language to anyone from outside of this world, but are easily recognized by those who have spent time around a shipping yard or inside the cab of a 7.5 ton truck. These are the places where you’ll most often hear trucker slang spoken.

Now You’re Speaking My Language - List Of Terms

Here is a list of common logistics terms and phrases used between truckers, along with a definition of each. Consider this a trucker slang dictionary of sorts.

Some of these are standard professional terms you’ll hear used by everyone in the industry, from a T.M. or desk jockey all the way to the messiest cab rats and seasoned trampers (read on for definitions). Other terms are funny trucker slang which you might hear uttered more often between drivers talking to each other over their radios. After all, you have to keep it interesting on some of the longer stretches of road out there.  

Act of God - An act beyond human control, such as lightning, flood or earthquake

Ad Valorem - Derived from Latin, meaning “according to value”

Alligator - A blown tire on the road, which can cause a hazard

All Locked Up - A specific weigh station is closed

Anti-Dumping Duty - Tariff imposed to discourage the sale of foreign goods, subsidized to sell at low prices detrimental to local manufacturers

Asset Carrier - A shipping company that owns and operates its fleet of trucks

B.L. - Bill of Lading

Back Off The Hammer - Slow down

B.I.F.A. - British International Freight Association

Black Eye - A headlight is out

Blew My Doors Off - Passed me by at a high rate of speed

Blinders - High-beam headlights

Brush Your Teeth and Comb Your Hair - Get ready, because police are monitoring the road with a radar gun up ahead

Bulk Cargo - Loose or unpackaged cargo

Bumper Sticker - A vehicle tailgating another vehicle

Bundled Out - A vehicle that is at maximum capacity or overloaded

Cab Fever - The urge to spend time away from your truck after spending too much time driving and sleeping in it

Cab Rat - Driver who is messy or doesn’t clean the cab of their truck

Carnet - A Customs document required for crossing some international borders

Cartage - Refers to intra city hauling on trucks

C.F.S. - Container Freight Station, where cargo is loaded into or unloaded from containers

Chicken Coop - Weigh station

C.L.E.C.A.T. - European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services

C.M.R. Note - Standard document used when transporting goods internationally

C.O. - Certificate of Origin

Cold Store - Warehouse used for storing refrigerated goods

Consignee - The business or party who receives a shipment

Cowboy - Someone who doesn’t take their job seriously

C.R.T. - Commercial Road Transport

Customs - Government agency in charge of enforcing a country’s import and export laws

D.C. - Distribution Center

Demurrage - A penalty charge for delaying a carrier’s equipment beyond the allowed free time

Desk Jockey - Dispatcher or office worker

Devanning - Unloading of a container or cargo van

Draggin’ Wagon (Dragon Wagon) - A tow truck or wrecker

Dream Weaver - A tired driver who is weaving between, or in and out of lanes

Driver Assist - A fee charged when a driver is required to help offload cargo

Dunnage - Empty return skids, plywood or other shipping material left in a container, trailer or van

Euro-pallet - Standard European pallet (120cm x 80 cm)

Fighter Pilot - A driver who is constantly changing lanes, usually at a high speed

Fingerprinting - Unloading a trailer by yourself

Fitter - Truck mechanic

Force Majeure - A stipulation in contracts which removes a party’s liability if they are unable to deliver due to unpredictable disruption (see: Act of God)

Four Wheeler - Derogatory term for a passenger vehicle

Free Truck Wash - Rain

Go-go Juice - Diesel fuel (also sometimes called motion lotion)

Granny Lane - Slow lane

Greasy Spoon - Roadside transport cafe of questionable quality

Green Card - Motor insurance certificate

Grocery Grabber - A minivan or station wagon

Groupage - Several consignments grouped together in one vehicle to be sorted before delivery

G.V.W. - Gross Vehicle Weight

Hammer Lane - Passing lane or fast lane

Hammer Down (Drop the hammer down) - Move faster

Handball - Loading or unloading a vehicle by hand

Hazmat - Short for hazardous materials

Hole In The Wall - A tunnel

Ice Skating - Losing traction on a slippery road

Jet Pilot - Speeding vehicle

J.I.T. - Just In Time

Lead Time - Amount of time given to arrange for the shipment of a freight

Live Load/Live Unload - When a driver stays with the trailer as freight is being loaded or unloaded

Logistics - Movement and supply of goods

Lorry - Truck

L.P.G. - Liquid Petroleum Gas

L.T.L./L.C.L. - Less Than Truckload or Less Than Container Load

Lumper - Staff hired for loading and unloading at a warehouse

Mile - 1.609344 kilometers

M.S.A. - Motorway Service Area

Multi-Drop - A load which is delivered to many different areas

Nap Trap - A motel or rest stop

Nose - The front of a trailer

Odometer - Kilometer counter

Offload - To unload

Puddle Jumper - A term for a 7.5 ton HGV

Pup Trailer - A short trailer

R.D.C. - Regional Distribution Center

Re-consignment - A fee applied when a freight’s destination is changed after it is already in transit

Reefer - A refrigerated truck or trailer

Relais Routiers - French transport cafe or truck stop

Semi-trailer - A trailer without a front axle

Shipping Lane - A route that is routinely served by a carrier specific to a start and end point

Shunter - A vehicle used for maneuvering trailers around a yard

Skateboard - A flatbed trailer

Sleeper Cab - A cab with a bunk or sleeper compartment

Spanner - Wrench

Spreadover - Amount of time from the start to the end of a driver’s shift

Spy-in-the-cab - Another term for a tachograph

Tacho - Short for tachograph, a device used to monitor vehicle movement, speed, and hours of use

Tandems - The rear wheels on a trailer

Tanker - A semi-trailer designed for the transport of liquids

Tank Farm - Large storage area for liquids (usually chemicals or oil products)

Tare - Weight of an empty container or vehicle

Tilt - Covered trailer which can be sealed by Customs for international transport

T.M. - Transport Manager (the person in charge of keeping your fleet on the road - stay on their good side)

Tramper (Roamer) - Long haul driver who spends most of their week driving and sleeping their truck

Tramping - Picking up and delivering goods to any destination

Travel Agent - Dispatcher

Trunker - A driver who runs the same route every shift, typically at night

War Risk - Insurance coverage for loss of goods resulting from any act of war

Warehouse - Location for reception, delivery, consolidation, distribution and storage of goods

Wiggle Wagon - A truck with more than one trailer attached, which may wiggle a bit on the road

Yard - Area used to load freight from a warehouse onto a truck or container for shipment

Yard Jockey - Operator of a yard truck

Eurowag Knows What Drives The Industry

As a leading innovator of integrated road transport solutions, Eurowag speaks your language. We offer a variety of products and services designed to help you navigate the road to success.

Eurowag Fuel Cards provide professional payment solutions for fleets of all sizes, including safer cashless payments with card locking and geolocation. With an acceptance network of over 15,000 fuel stations across Europe offering both conventional and alternative fuel types, you’ll never be far away from a full tank.

Eurowag EETS-certified toll boxes allow you to manage toll and vignette payments in multiple countries with just a single on-board unit (OBU).

And Eurowag customers get access to 24/7 support, which means that even drivers working the graveyard shift can enjoy a hassle free ride. Find out more about why Eurowag is the best copilot for truckers all over Europe.