Fatigue after driving hours

After some normal sleep and you're still feeling beat up I would look at diet or something along that line to be the root of the problem.

For me just getting away from the truck for a day or 2 works wonders.

 

With 8 years experience the answer probably is to get a better job where you make the same or better money without running so hard.

 

sleep apnea causes trouble feeling refreshed after sleep also
i get a room at least once a week that revives me

 

Actually, the Smith system talks about this a little bit. It says to keep your eyes moving. Check your mirrors constantly (but only if you are not in danger of running into the person in front of you - they don't mention that, maybe figuring it is a given), averaging every 6 seconds (I don't know how they figured out it was 6 and not 5). They are pretty good points. Other things can help to reduce fatigue I have found: something interesting on the radio...perhaps even a book on CD. Alter your grip on the steering wheel occasionally. Keep a bucket of ice water on the floor near you and dump it on your head if you are getting sleepy. Stomp on the floor. Bounce up and down in your chair. Please don't do these things in traffic, though.

There is always getting out of the truck and taking a short walk around an area every 3 hours or 150 miles. Check your tires while you are at it.

 

Diet and exercise make a tremendous difference in feeling tired in general. I cannot speak of life on a truck just yet. However, there is plenty of research that shows that a proper diet does wonders in this area. One of the very first things that people say when making health and lifestyle changes is that they no longer feel tired all the time. Properly nourish your body and it will respond.

 

I can vouch for that. Last year I made a radical change to my diet. I not only lost 40+ pounds and am now well within a healthy BMI, but my energy level has skyrocketed. I no longer get sleepy in the day, even after eating lunch. And yeah, been exercising as well. I wouldn't even consider trucking as a career if I was feeling sleepy all the time, so I made the changes in preparation for this new career.

Sorry if this sounds like a commercial, but the truth is the truth.

Tip: check out this free heath website, it's really helped me: http://www.sparkpeople.com/

 

it's really no differrent then working a local job for 60 hours. your home every night but working that many hours. i usually spend most my first day off catching up. the second day i'm all over some energy.

now, if i quit smoking. then i don't get much sleep. even during the week. and i defenitly have a lot more energy

 

I changed my diet, 80%fruits, vegetables and beans....I dont get that two day fatigue when I am off work anymore. The diet changes gave me so much energy, I have to exercise to burn some of the excess, or I feel like I cant sit still to drive