Which mode is most commonly used for SSB voice communications in the VHF and UHF bands?

In the VHF and UHF bands (such as 6 meters, 2 meters, and 70 centimeters), Upper Sideband (USB) is the established convention for single sideband voice communications. This perfectly aligns with the general HF rule that frequencies above 10 MHz use USB. While Frequency Modulation (FM) is overwhelmingly the most popular voice mode on VHF and UHF for local repeater and simplex traffic, weak-signal operators rely on SSB to achieve much greater distances. Because SSB requires less than half the bandwidth of FM, the signal-to-noise ratio is significantly better for long-haul contacts. When you tune to the dedicated weak-signal portions of the VHF/UHF bands, you will find operators exclusively using USB to reach distant grid squares during band openings, meteor scatter events, or contests.