run time vs sleep time

Most everyone that has posted in the past on this states you go back to bed and sleep. You are on your break and should be well rested to run all night. You circardian rhythm will not be affected and to pull the big pants up.

 

Last time that happened to me , I kinda pulled the old 8:2 split and took a nap 5 hrs into driving .
And then energy drinks for the rest of the night til the sun comes up. Lol

 

I hate it when that happens. I can't sleep during the day. A few hours cat nap early on in the break is the best I can hope for. I can run like that 1 night ok. A second night? questionable but probably will to be a "team player" ... a third straight night? I say "no, not going to happen" and if they say "that's part of the job", I say "I quit and going back to the bankers hours of flatbed work".

To me the only thing that works is 7 hours of meaningful sleep prior but that's probably not going to happen unless I've been sleep deprived for 2-3 days and can finally "crash" no matter.

What also sucks is once you get shifted up to night on duty hours (probably lost most of a day's worth of running), then you almost have to lose most of another day's production to get back on a "normal" schedule

 

I tell dispatch I'm not running until i get enough sleep. No load is worth me driving tired and getting in an accident. I loaded one 10 pm last week and didn't leave until 6 am. I let them know so they could repower if they wanted, but im not driving tired. If your company doesn't respect that, switch companies. Just cuz your DOT legal doesn't mean you have to run.

 

I one asked my dispatcher if he would stay up all night to since i had to. he then said, get some sleep, roll in the morn.

 

Oh , boy .... YouTube video coming soon , stay tunned.

 

Step 1. Set up dash can facing you.
Step 2. Call dispatch, turn camera on.
Step 3. Tell dispatch you are tired and don't know what to do. Argue with dispatcher when they give suggestions.
Step 4. End phone call, turn camera off, go take a nap.
Step 5. Post video on YouTube and provide commentary on how hard truck driving is. Become celebrity, quit driving and become auto mechanic.

Seriously though, run till you're tired, take a nap, and get going again.

 

Rinse and repeat Steps 1-5 as needed.