World’s Greatest… Radio Scanners November 23, 2005

Read more Gadgets

When was the last time you’ve seen a trucker pulled over for speeding?

The question never occurred to me until the summer of 2003, as I was preparing for the Gumball Rally, one of the spiritual descendants of the infamous Cannonball Run. I needed to know how truckers cruised at 85 miles-per-hour day after day, without police interference. Truckers, after all, can ill afford to be pulled over and ticketed—the fines are killers, plus their deliveries will be late. And late deliveries are the trucking industry’s biggest no-no.

I’d always assumed that truckers tipped each other off about speed traps via CB radio. But their secret weapon is the humble radio scanner.

After the jump: How to pick a scanner…

[MORE]