With the interstate system declared "finished" in the 1970s, and truck technology very well developed, America's roadways became the lifeline of the suburbs.
The 1970's saw more of the same with improved suspension systems and better marked roadways reducing the stress on drivers. Complaints of back pain for drivers almost as old as the profession of truck driving itself were greatly reduced, cabs became even more comfortable, and Citizen's Band (CB) Radio developed into first a system by which drivers could communicate, and later into a sort of pop culture fad where every ten year old knew phrases like: "What's your 20?", "Smoky Bear is on the loose.", and "That's a big 10-4 good buddy."
By the eighties America's roadways were a crucial lifeline bringing necessities and comforts to millions of people that they would not otherwise have had access to. This small town supply system developed so ubiquitously that most people took such things entirely for granted.
The next three decades saw improved trucks, better cabs, decorative fads like large painted teeth on the grill, well appointed cabs with all the amenities of a home away from home, and of course the mature age of the urban traffic jam which many cities tried to deal with by installing interstate by-pass loops. Some places were more successful than others in keeping up with increased traffic flow as more and more people began to join the trucks on the highways to commute to urban jobs from suburban dwellings.
In America the "eighteen wheeler" became a sort of cultural icon in this period. Dads bought their sons plastic replicas of the big trucks, and taught them to pump their arm at passing trucks in hopes that they would blow their air horns on sleepy back streets. We may take the goods and services they deliver almost for granted, but there is nonetheless a fond sort of appreciation of trucks and their drivers.
