NGA 21 Locating and Marking of Facilities Practice Test

The thing being traced is described as a conductor. In utility locating, a conductor is the buried metallic pipe or cable that carries a current or signal and is the actual object you’re trying to locate. The transmitter is the device that injects a signal onto the line, the receiver detects that signal, and the locator is the person or tool interpreting the signal to mark the route. So the term that fits the description of the buried line being traced is conductor.