True Blue Aussie Truck Driver Slang 101

24 May True Blue Aussie Truck Driver Slang 101

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As a former British colony, Australia is one of the largest English-speaking nations in the southern hemisphere. For hundreds of years, Aussies have been shortening words that are too bothering to utter.

Us Aussies have customized our terminologies about everything under the sun. So, regardless of who you are or where you are from, there are bound to be a few words that you won’t understand when speaking to an operator. Here’s a simple guide to what you will hear on the road.

A-Z of Aussie driving slang

Anchors: Brakes
Bingle: A (small) road accident
Bog Standard: Basic standard equipment or specification, without upgrades or modifications
Booze Bus: Random breath test unit
Carby: Carburetor
Clocked: Caught speeding
Cow Snatcher: Bull-bars
Hairdryer: Stationery police radar gun
Hairdresser’s car: Small, often convertible car that is more about looks than performance
Hoon: Dangerous driver
Juice: Fuel
K: Kilometer(s)
Loud Pedal: Accelerator
Mods: Modifications
Rego: Vehicle registration
Roo catcher: Bull-bars
Rubber: Tyres
Servo: service station
Shopping Trolley: Small hatchback car
Slush Box: Automatic transmission
Spanner monkey: Mechanic
Stack: Car crash
Speedo: Speedometer
Tar: Asphalt Road surface
Temporary Australian: Motorcycle rider
Tiller: Steering wheel
Ute: utility vehicle, pickup style vehicle

And there’s more.

Anteater: Kenworth T604 because of the aerodynamic design
Bobtail: A prime mover without a trailer
Bog Cog: A very low gear
Bogie Drive: A truck with two or more drive axles at the back with differentials coupled with a jack
Camera Car: Highway Patrol Police Car about the onboard video camera set up
Candy Car: Highway Patrol Police Car usually with high-visibility Police decals
Diff: The differential that couples the drive shaft to half-shafts connected to the rear driving wheels
Disco Tin: High-visibility police car
Disco Whistle: Police car siren
Dolly: A unit made up of a turntable, drawbar and axle group that enables a dog trailer to be attached to a semi-trailer or the weight over an oversize load to be spread over more wheels
Dog Box: A sleeper box behind the cab or a Police Paddy Wagon
Dog Trailer: A trailer that can be attached to a semi-trailer
Double Bubble: Old style highway patrol cars still used in some country areas that had a pair of blue rotating lights on the roof before strobe bars were introduced
Double One: Marked highway patrol Car
Evil Kinevil: Highway patrol motorcycle
Flash for Cash: Speed or red-light camera
Hauling Unit: A prime mover
Jinker: A trailer to transport long logs
Kingpin: A pin that locks a semi-trailer into a prime mover’s turntable
Landing Gear: The retractable legs used to support a semi-trailer when not coupled to a truck
Live Load: A load that cannot be secured completely such as liquids, livestock, hanging meat, or earthmoving equipment with pneumatic tyres
Locker: Locked differential
Pig Trailer: A trailer with a non-steerable axle group near the middle
Pogo Stick: A pole behind the cab that holds trailer brake hoses and electrical connections
Reefer: An insulated, refrigerated dry freight container
Tarp: Short for tarpaulin, a cover to protect loads from rain or dust
Tug: A truck, particularly one used for shunting