Afraid of Falling Asleep at the Wheel. What do you guys do about this?

go to bed. your body is telling you it needs sleep. So sleep.


You can sleep in a bunk or you can sleep in a coffin. one you can walk out of. Your choice.

 

Wiping your face with wet wipes helps unless you're really fatigued, then a nap is in order.

 

power naps dont work for me...like ol'hand said..get out and walk etc...i eat sunflower seeds....that keeps me awake...but once it gets to the point where thats not workin...i stop and take a nap...PERIOD...i am not gonna end up taking someones life, or hubby's or my own....or end up (if i dont die) trying to explain why i drove so tired that i fell asleep at the wheel....

 

You say sometimes it's impossible to get enough sleep time. That sometimes points to you not properly managing your time. If someone else, e.g., dispatchers, driver managers, are managing your sleep time by what they think you can do with your HOS, you must change that. There is no cure for fatigue other than sleep. You have a 14 hour clock to accomplish 11 hours of driving time. Pull into a safe place and take a nap. Take 12 hours to do your 10 reset. Don't drive from 4am through sundown; that shadow time is deadly if you are a night sleeper.

The bottom line is as ship71021 said, no load is worth your life. Neither you, or any of us, are hauling life saving medicine to Nome. Pull over, shut down and sleep.

Frank

 

oh yeah...and dont let it get too warm in the truck...

 

really if the MONSTER is coming for you and you feel it coming up from behind forget it and pull over trust me theres no way out of it, when its time for your body to shut down it will. theres nothing that say you cant rest but plan your time wisely depending on your sleep ethic then.

 

Ever got checked for Sleep Apnea?....it is a possibility.

 

if you cant stay awake for 14 hrs you should consider a differant career. With that said if your a new driver you'll build endurance over your first couple of months. When i first started driving i would be exhausted by then end of my 11/14 by the end of my first month or two on the road at the end of my 11/14 i was ready for a pee break and a few min to start another log book and go for another 11/14 lol. and 3rd you need to make sure you SLEEP as much as you need on your 10. If you need more then that take longer breaks when you can...




American Trucker

 

you are the "Captain of the ship" and are responsible for what happens. whether "they" told you to drive or not, YOU are the one going to jail in an accident, if someone is hurt or killed. Not the dispatcher.

 

The only cure for the Z monster is SLEEP.