The Secret World of Trucker's Hand Gestures...Rated G

In the world of trucking, people who drive regular passenger cars are called "4-wheelers," for obvious reasons. Now, 4-wheelers probably won't have experienced a "trucker's greeting" so I thought it would be fun to educate my 4-wheelin' buddies out there about this ancient and secret world of hand gestures that the trucker, or as they call each other "driver," hold only for their own.

How one trucker greets another trucker as you pass each other on the freeway or in a truck stop says a lot about that trucker. You have the trucker who gives you the "James Dean" wave where he touches his finger to his right eyebrow and then extends his right forefinger out. This trucker usually has his hair greased, maybe even ending in a ducktail, and the possibility that he rolls his pack of cigarettes into his t-shirt sleeve is better than 80%. Then you have the trucker that is just too tired to make the effort to move his hand from the steering wheel at all and he barely lifts a few of his fingers while still holding on to the wheel.

Some truckers like to point their finger forward as a wave, I guess to indicate that they know which way they're going. I've even had these truckers add a wink with this wave but I don't know if that is an added feature given to just female drivers or if they wink at the guys, too. Younger drivers have modified this wave a bit and extend two fingers in a peace sign and then wave the two fingers forward a couple of times. Maybe they are saying "Go in peace" but I think that might be giving them too much creative credit. Quite a few truckers will give you a modified kind of salute and I'm supposing that these might be veterans and so in my opinion they can wave anyway they want to because they have earned it.

If a trucker is wearing a baseball cap he or she might just tug down on the brim or some will even take the whole cap off and dip it down toward the steering wheel.  If a cowboy hat is involved then you usually get the tipping of the front edge, either by moving just their head downward a little bit or they might extend their hand and touch the brim as they are tipping their head at the same time.

My personal style of wave is a modified "princess" wave where I place my hand up with all the fingers together, but instead of rotating it slightly from side to side, I freeze it in place until the other trucker has passed.  But I think my favorite wave of all is my husband's. Shannon has no pretense about trying to be cool, he just waves with all his might. He wants the other trucker to know that he has seen him and he is saying "Hi, how are you? Are you having a great trip? Isn't it fun driving for a living?" My husband is the best and it is my privilege to share this experience with someone as transparent as he is.

So, 4-wheelers, you now have a little bit of insight into the secret world of trucker's greetings. Maybe some day, if you live right and eat all your vegetables, you might experience one of these rare exchanges between road jockeys and you'll be able to tell your grandchildren about it.