How it works
Why is the coupling on a tractor called a fifth wheel, and what is an alligator doing in the road? These trucking trivia questions run from the rig to the radio, with the source linked beside each answer.
Read the full guide
Trucker trivia questions on the rig and the radio
The rig: tractor, trailer and coupling asks what holds up a parked trailer and why some towns forbid engine braking. Trailers and freight covers reefers, pups and the trade the first refrigerated trucks were built for. CB radio and trucker slang has the double nickels, the yardstick and the reason every ten-code starts with ten.
Roads, scales and where the words come from
Interstates, scales and the road asks which two route numbers are missing and how slowly the Army's convoy of 1919 crossed the country. Trucking history and words goes back to 1611, when a truck was a small wheel under a ship's cannon.
- At a driver appreciation lunch, open with CB radio and trucker slang: half the room will know every answer and say so.
Questions and answers
What are some easy trucker trivia questions?
What is a tractor doing when it is bobtailing? What kind of trailer is a reefer? What is a truck called in British English? The answers: running with no trailer, a refrigerated one, and a lorry.
Why is it called an 18-wheeler?
The name comes from the number of tires on a typical long-haul tractor-trailer, a rig that rides on five axles. Truckers use the word for any tractor pulling a semi-trailer, whatever the count.
What does 10-4 mean on a CB radio?
Acknowledged: the message was received. Ten-codes were worked out for police radio in the late 1930s, and each starts with ten because early radios often lost the first syllable spoken.
How were the answers checked?
Each was read on October 13, 2026 in the English Wikipedia article linked beside it, 35 articles in all. No truck maker, carrier or truck stop chain is an answer, and slang built on a brand name was left out.