Know your limitations (get some sleep)

I used to sleep with the head on the window in the rocking chair waking up for writing down state line mileage. There is usually a red light from one of the trailers in front to follow. Monkey see, monkey do. Finally one day not too long ago I felt a huge Pete coming real close to my left in a deliberate manuver and that woke me up. When I woke up, my truck gave everyone a shake.

It turned out that I was in dream land on the Platte River and made it almost to the Buford Colorado population of two before they got me pulled off at the small stop there to sleep it off before Denver. It took a convoy to herd me that far.

When I woke up I found a Mr Driver note and after careful thought over coffee that morning, I decided that was the end of that. If I am tired, I go to sleep. Dispatcher will just have to wait a while. If the appt time gets busted we get a new one. Or not at all.

I got really hard on that side, driving sleepy is worse than driving drunk. And that's not what trucking is all about.

 

you ever dozed off in the drivers seat at a truck stop and woke up to someone backing in next to you?

That can be a rush

 

I had an incident last winter due to lack of sleep.

I got dispatched on a load that was already late(planners fault, not mine), got to the shipper without an appointment time in the early afternoon. Without an appt, I got worked in and sat the whole day. I had woken up early that morning and was awake all day. I wasn't tired during the day and have trouble sleeping during the day anyway.

I finally got loaded at 11pm and was told to leave the property immediately. All the truck stops and rest stops I passed were full, additionally I am under a company policy of not allowing any kind of street or ramp parking. At first I wasn't tired, but after spending 2+ hours unable to find a parking spot , i was really in bad shape. Finally got to the next rest area, and all the "official" spots were taken. I tried to make my own spot off to the side. There was about 6 inches of snow on the ground, and as I was reversing into position I got stuck, tapped the accelerator, and then the trailer unstuck and slid down into the ditch. The only thing that prevented a rollover was that the landing gear was at just the right position to catch the side of the ditch and hold the trailer up. It was at a really bad angle though and it eventually took 2 tow trucks to get me out. I didn't get fired and never heard anything from my company about the incident; it was never mentioned to me again. I wonder if it will appear on the DAC reports though.

 

Used to play a little game long ago.

Nose in to someone sleeping with head on wheel. Dark, lights out.

Hit the brights and roar the air horn and pantomime a very horrified about to die expression.

If done right the sleeper will jerk straight up then slam back into his seat elbows locked while all the service air drained from his parked truck. he he he.

 

Ya can't deliver the load if your tits up in the ditch.

 

Jesus I've done that at a red light. Not even sleeping but completely fixated on the light waiting to grab gears and someone gets the left turn arrow and starts moving. I'm like oh #### I'm rolling back. Actually slammed both feet on the brakes once and stalled out, thinking I was rolling down a hill at a stoplight.

Fortunately I was 1/4 mile from the place I was heading to sleep for the day. Backing in after that was also exciting. Pilot/J in Tulsa, so you know #### well it was packed. Hell it was packed at 10am on a Tuesday lol

 

Yeah, that's just hilarious. If you're a moron that is.
If you did that to most of the drivers I know you'd probably get a couple of pages added to your dental record.

 

Well.. I was younger then and with really deep teeth that could take a fight or round or two. There was a .. joy in being in a go around with Mr Mad Mad for whom I have to buy a meal and drink now for pulling that. That is if it does not progress too far.

Never mind the dental stuff. They use computers to hold all that accumulated data. At least I get them worked on, unlike some people.