A Glossary of Trucking Terms to Help Truckers Save Money
This glossary of trucking terms -- aka trucker lingo or
trucking terminology -- is provided as
a courtesy to help you professional truck drivers save money in the
transportation industry.
These have been compiled primarily for use by truckers
in the USA. Other terms may be used in other
countries.
These
are our
own definitions. If you think that any definition needs to be
clarified, corrected or updated, please contact
us. We plan to expand the list over time.
Glossary of Trucking Terms starting with Numbers
- 18 wheeler:
A nickname for a
semi-tractor trailer, pertaining to those trucks that have a 10-wheel
tractor (steering axle with two tires and two drive axles with four
tires each) and an 8-wheel trailer (two axles with four tires each).
In
order to drive an 18-wheeler, a driver must possess a Class A
Commercial Driver's License. (Note: not all large trucks have 18
wheels; some have more and some have less.)
- 34-hour restart:
Regarding
professional drivers' hours of service (HOS), as defined by the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Administration, is any period of 34 consecutive
hours off-duty that "restarts" the 60/70 hour calculation.(1)(2)
Glossary of Trucking Terms starting with
Letters A-B
- articulated:
When applied to a
large truck, is each segment (tractor and each trailer) connected by a
pivoting joint (king pin fitting into a fifth wheel platform).
- backing:
The
activity being
performed when a driver has his or her truck in reverse gear. Among the
most often used forms are straight line backing, 90-degree alley
docking, and offset alley docking. See our article on how
to back up your truck safely.
- big rig:
A
nickname for a
semi-tractor trailer, consisting of the tractor and trailer.
Glossary of Trucking Terms starting with Letter
C
- CDL:
Abbreviation for Commercial
Driver's License.
- CMV:
Abbreviation for Commercial
Motor Vehicle.
- Comdata Card:
Also known as a
"ComCard," a plastic card with an embedded magnetic strip, issued by
Comdata Services, which is connected to a credit account, most often
used by some professional drivers to buy fuel, but also used to
purchase other goods and services.
- Comdata
Check:
Also known as a
"ComCheck," a piece of paper issued by Comdata Services, which is
connected to a credit account and requires additional authorization
(such as a purchase order number), most often used by some professional
drivers to buy lumper services, but also used to purchase other goods
and services.
- Comdata Services:
According to its
website, http://www.comdata.com/,
"For four decades, Comdata has been at the forefront of payment
innovations. We invented the concept of electronic payments for
transportation, and in the process launched the Comdata Card - a
payment solution that helped drive an industry."
- CSA 2010:
According to its
website, http://csa2010.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/,
"Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) ... is FMCSA's data-driven
safety compliance and enforcement program designed to improve safety
and prevent commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes, injuries, and
fatalities. CSA consists of three core components; the Safety
Measurement System (SMS); interventions; and a Safety Fitness
Determination (SFD) rating system to determine the safety fitness of
motor carriers.
"
Glossary of Trucking Terms starting with
Letters D-H
- drop and hook:
Being able to drop
a loaded trailer at the consignee, hook to an empty trailer and not
have to wait on your trailer to be unloaded live before leaving.
- double drop and
hook:
The series
of moves a driver undertakes when he
- drops trailer #1,
- hooks to trailer #2 (which
is almost always in a
space or dock where trailer #1 needs to
go),
- moves trailer #2 and drops
it,
- rehooks to trailer #1,
- moves trailer #1 to the
desired space and drops
it,
- rehooks to trailer #2.
(Even though this series of moves actually involves
three drops and
three hooks, it involves only two trailers.)
- doubles:
two short trailers connected back to front by a converter gear and
pulled in series behind a tractor. Because of the height to length
ratio, they are more likely to overturn than a standard long van, high
cube doubles even more so.
- double
forty-eights: instead of
two short trailers being pulled by a tractor, this is two 48-foot
trailers being pulled by a tractor. Because of the length of this kind
of rig, some drivers refer to double-48s as "freight trains." The
number of places where this length of vehicle is permitted to operate
is small, usually on turnpikes with parking areas near toll plazas
where drivers can connect or disconnect the trailers.
- ELD: Electronic Logging Device. This is an electronic version of the old paper logs that many truck drivers once used (or may still use).
- ELDT: entry-level driver training.
- Federal Highway Administration (FHWA): According to its website, http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/, "FHWA is charged with the broad responsibility of ensuring that America's roads and highways continue to be the safest and most technologically up-to-date" and its mission is to "Improve Mobility on our Nation's Highways Through National Leadership, Innovation and Program Delivery."
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) : According to its website, http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/,
"The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) was
established as a separate administration within the U.S. Department of Transportation on January 1, 2000, pursuant to the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999" and "Our primary mission is to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses."
- "high cube": A short van which is usually pulled as part of "doubles" or "triples" but which is 14'3" tall instead of the standard 13'6" tall. Because of its extra height, it is intended to be run only in western U.S. states where the height restriction is higher than on the East Coast. A driver who drives high cubes in states where the height restriction is 13'6" risks receiving a fine and being put out of service.
Glossary of Trucking Terms starting with
Letters I-J
- IFTA: According to The Free Dictionary on this subject, "The International Fuel Tax Agreement (or IFTA) is an
agreement between the lower 48 states of the United States and the
Canadian provinces, to simplify the reporting of fuel use by motor
carriers that operate in more than one jurisdiction. An operating
carrier with IFTA receives an IFTA license, a set of decals which are applied to qualifying vehicles, and a quarterly fuel tax report. This report shows the net tax or refund due."

jackknife: The acute angle (less than 90 degrees) of a tractor in position to the semi-trailer to which it is attached, most often seen in accidents in which a professional driver has lost control of his or her articulated vehicle. During accidents resulting in jackknifed rigs, the momentum of the trailer has forced the tractor to spin around facing backwards. See the similarities between a jackknifed rig and the blade of a folding pocket knife in an acute angle with
respect to its body in these images:
Glossary of Trucking Terms starting with
Letters K-M
- inverter:
A
device used to invert
DC (direct current) power into AC (alternating current) power. See our
article on inverters.
- live load:
The loading of
freight
onto a semi-trailer which the driver is waiting to move.
- live unload:
The unloading of
freight from a semi-trailer which the driver is waiting to move.
Glossary of Trucking Terms starting with
Letters N-P
- National Highway
Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA): According to its website, http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/,
this government agency's mission is to: "Save lives, prevent injuries
and reduce economic costs due to road traffic crashes, through
education, research, safety standards and enforcement activity."
- National Motor
Freight
Traffic Association
(NMFTA): According to its website, http://www.nmfta.org/,
"NMFTA publishes the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC),
which is a standard that provides a comparison of commodities moving in
commerce."
- NRW:
Acronym
for "not road
worthy." This means that the vehicle or trailer is not in good enough
shape to be taken out on the open road. A trailer so designated may, in
some cases, still be used for storage.
- Professional
Truck
Driver Institute (PTDI):
According its website, http://www.ptdi.org/,
"PTDI is the first nonprofit organization to develop uniform skill
performance, curriculum, and certification standards for the trucking
industry and to award course certification to entry-level truck driver
training courses and motor carrier driver-finishing programs."
Glossary of Trucking Terms starting with
Letters Q-Z
- tandems:
A
pair of axles, usually
denoting trailer
axles that can be moved by sliding them forward or backward
along a track built on the underside of the trailer.
- triples:
like "doubles" except three short vans connected in series with two
converter gears between them.
- U.S. Department
of
Transportation (DOT):
According to its website, Transportation.gov
"The Department of Transportation was established by an act of Congress
on October 15, 1966. The Department's first official day of operation
was April 1, 1967." and this government department's mission is to:
"Serve the United States by ensuring a fast, safe, efficient,
accessible and convenient transportation system that meets our vital
national interests and enhances the quality of life of the American
people, today and into the future."
Return from A Glossary of Trucking Terms to Help Truckers Save Money to our Trucking Driving Jobs page or our Truck Drivers Money Saving Tips home page.
References:
1.
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/truck/driver/hos/brochure.htm
(no longer online)
2.
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/truck/driver/hos/hos-faqs.asp#_Toc111021256
(no longer online)