Advice on teaming

Hello all.
It's been a while since I've had a chance to post. Just got myself an iphone so now im able to check things online and whatnot.

Anyway's, been driving for a few months solo for PAM and everything was going alright for the most part. Biggest issue I had was I stayed in the shops getting the POS truck they assigned me worked on every other week just about. Too many things to list, but lets just say I was payed over $600 in layover within 2-3 months. They would not assign me anything else so I just had to deal with it.

Now PAM has found a partner for me. He had been solo 1 week after finishing his training. Weekend dispatch got things mixed up and it took a few extra days and loads to get us both routed to the same yard. He picked me up in Atlanta, GA ... I got all my stuff moved on the truck and we got started on our first team load. My teammate is a good driver, nice guy, and we have stuff in common. Been teaming going on 3 weeks now and here's were i need some input...Neither one of us can sleep with the truck moving. I've tried and tried and tried. It just isn't going to happen. I would try to take sleeping pills but since thats a no-no in a CMV I am just going sleepless. We aren't really making enough miles to justify teaming. We are basically driving alt days, i.e. I drive Monday, he drives Tuesday, I drive Wednesday, etc... and we both know this is rediculous but we cannot sleep with the truck moving. The times i did drive after his shift i had to shutdown due to extreme fatigue. Surprisingly, dispatch hasn't said a word about this, nor have they asked why the truck isn't moving.

Yes we both signed contracts, and yes we are both obligated to team for 6 months (well i have about 3 months obligation left) and must go along with the program. But truth be told, there is no chance I can sleep with a truck in motion on the road without some form of medication to put me to sleep and keep me asleep. On a further note, I get motion sickness when I lay down with the truck moving sometimes. My stomach produces too much acid and I do take acid reflux medicine for that... But when im laying down all bets off... I dont always get sick, but when I do its torture.

Sorry for the long post, I know a few ways of getting out of teaming. I like my teammate and we get along so thats not a way out. Shutting the truck down when fatigued isnt working either because the planners are basically giving us solo runs mostly.

Am I just going to have to continue shutting down when my eyes are too heavy to old open for 3 more months

Thx.

Posted from my phone in Nashville, TN

 

Thx guys.

What specifically keeps me away is the road vibrations, and violent shaking from potholes, uneven lanes, the side to side shake from shifting in lower gears, the acid in my stomach slushing around, etc...

I've tried all positions, i get sick almost always if i lay on my back. If i lay on either side i dont Usually get sick but rocked violently. I have never been able to sleep with my stomach facing down so unless im missing a position thats not doing me much good.

As for the memory foam, i have a 6 inch memory foam mattress, i love, but again.. I cannot sleep with the truck being driven down the road. So the memory foam feels great to lay on, but its not going to filter out all the road vibrations, shakes, rattles, and rolls.

I would like to try Gravol, and other things like that such as melatonin, but if DOT inspected the inside of the truck for any reason and found those types of things, is there anything they could do about natural, herbal over the counter pills?

Thanks again guys. I appreciate the suggestions very much.