Showing up too early a problem often?

I wouldn't mention a sleep disorder.
I also have a severe sleep disorder; 4 hours a night is my average.
This was a benefit when I was on Naval ships. Worked many, many 18 hour days and could still party with the best of them in port.

 

Under no circumstance be an owner op until you have worked as a employee driver, commonly called company driver, first.

 

Being an Owner isn't a solution, your problem is something that can be considered a form of Narcolepsy because of the nature of the problems.

I would not count on living in the truck.

You can get away with it in the Navy, but now you mentioned a tankerman position and it requires a medical cert and there are issues with sleep disorders because it is a US DOT regulated activity through USCG.

 

Cruise ships are probably more lax and a lot more fun.

 

No, but it depends; if they don’t have parking, it’s safer to show up no more than an hour before. I’ve started showing up to Walmart dcs 10min before that to beat the rush. If they have parking, you can show up whenever you want, but don’t expect to get unloaded till appt time.

As for your disorder, idk… If you think your sleep schedule is bad now, otr will just make it worse. If you intend to be otd, you should always be resting… it sucks. I lasted 18mos on kllm otr before going dedicated for better consistency.

The best place to sleep is in a door, if you miss their phone call, they’ll eventually send someone to kick you out… miss the phone call in staging/parking and they might skip over you; I usually plan to be awake an hour before appt till they call, missing an earlier call is usually ok.

edit: for our drop-n-hooks, you can usually show up whenever before appt (sometimes after too, especially if load is already late); dispatch will usually push for asap, but I would often time it to avoid traffic.

 

That's why I think his disorder would be irrelevant to otr trucking. I've had to switch from day to night driving, dictated by even the pickup/drop off time is. And I hate nights.

 

Just try it bruh. Don't let someone typing on their keyboard, shoot down your dreams. You didn't say you had narcolepsy. Go for it and see how it goes. I got back into trucking a year ago at the ripe old age of 65. If I asked opinions, I would have been discouraged.

 

One thing not mentioned here is the split sleeper option. Whether it's at a warehouse, or on your own accord, you can use it to adjust things to your sleep schedule a bit. I regularly do 16+ hour days just to use up my hours by using the split when loading or unloading. You can use that your advantage and extend your days a bit to fit your schedule without actually "losing time".

I don't think your disorder would put you in a much worse position, if any, compared to the normal reefer driver. Flatbed and dry van operate on more of a 06:00-18:00 schedule though, but not always.

As far as showing up early, KLLM might have a drop and hook account you could move to after a while which would almost guarantee you can show up early. For live loads/unloads, check Google reviews. The trick is to show up close enough to your appointment that they can't really turn you away if it's a strict place. Usually 30-45 minutes is the sweet spot.

 

Sorry to burst your bubble, it is just like narcolepsy, it is an UNPREDICTABLE SLEEP DISORDER. You can not be depended on to do the work with a sleep disorder and you are not considered safe by US DOT standards.

The insurance companies have the final say, mine said no ******** way and it is to them classified as a serious sleeping disorder and above the risk level on their tables.