Dictionary definition of “tanker yanker”

tanker yanker

n. a driver of a tanker truck, which is a tractor trailer or semi carrying liquids. Subjects: English, Automobiles & Transportation, Slang

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Citations: 1995 [Ryan] Usenet: misc.transport.trucking (Nov. 28) “Re: where do truckers access Internet??”: Aka “Slick,” The Tanker Yanker from Leamen. 1997 Bard Lindeman The Record (New Jersey) (Aug. 27) “The Chilling Tale Of A Trucker-Turned-Writer” p. H04: Grabbing his CB microphone, he hollered: “Hey, tanker yanker, ya’ got a copy?” 1998 Martin Fletcher Almost Heaven: Travels Through the Backwoods of America (Jan. 8) p. 172: There was every sort of truck you could imagine—“rooster cruisers” (produce haulers), “tanker yankers” (oil tankers), “bed buggers” (removal lorries), “stick haulers” (furniture deliverers). 2004 Andrew Jacobs @ Spartanburg, South Carolina New York Times (Feb. 5) “Truckers Look in Their Ranks For ‘Fallen Angel’ Writer” p. 28: “We’ve got to get the same work done in less time, and that makes the job more stressful,” said Bob Williams, a “tanker yanker,” a hauler of hazardous chemicals. “Listen, we’re adults, and we know when it’s time to rest. If we didn’t, we’d be in a graveyard already.” 2004 David Ivanovich @ Balad, Iraq Houston Chronicle (Texas) (Apr. 4) “Risk & Reward” p. A1: The next day, company tanker truck drivers or “tanker yankers” line up their vehicles, preparing for a five-hour run to supply fuel to Camp Webster, near the town of Al-Asad. 2007 Patrick May Mercury News (San Jose, California) (May 3) “Tanker truckers: Ice water in veins, fuel on backside”: Humphreys, who brought a reporter along for the ride, works his way up the 10 gears, just as the gray-bearded, gun-loving, trout-fishing Castro Valley resident has been doing the past 30 years. Beside him in the cab is an article about James Mosqueda, now the Bay Area’s most notorious “tanker yanker,” as this brotherhood of fuel haulers sometimes call themselves.

Posted 3 May 07 | Permalink | Tell a Friend