Best energy supplement? For otr

As a liscensed truck driver I am qualified to give medical advice. So here goes. You need to sleep more. An energy supplement only defers the inevitable crash.

 

You need more sleep. More quality sleep. You’ll have an easier time developing ways to help you sleep sooner and better and longer than trying to “find new energy source”. Even just routinely sleeping and additional 1.5 hours can make a big difference but it needs to be quality sleep.

 

You need more physical activity. Get a set of 25lb dumbbells and carry them in your hands as you walk around. The physical activity will kill the stress levels and you will unwind faster and sleep better. Win win.

 

Leave the energy drinks alone. Cut back on the coffee. If you can't finish your day without pounding a caffeinated beverage, it's time to stop for the night and start earlier the next day.

I don't care if it company tells you to drive every last second on the elog. This is about safety and health. If they won't listen, you should be looking for a new company to drive for.

Get yourself on a healthier diet and force yourself to get away from the coffee. I'm down to pretty much one to two cups (8-16oz) a day, and find that the best driving days are after a good night sleep and healthy breakfast.

 

For me, a generic Unisom (Doxylamine Succinate) and 5 mg melatonin helps me sleep good, I take shortly after I shut down (about an hour before I lay down)

Stay away from diphenhydramine. That stuff actually gets a lot of people wired and tingly for a few hours, and might make them drowsy for about 5 minutes.

 

This is what I do, in order (cost me zero dollars, no negative side effects)

1. Park the truck nose in (away from the noise)
2. Eat a nice, hearty meal, topped up with chicken noodle soup.
3. Walk the truck stop 10 times (fast paced)
4. Kill the motor (no idling - silence is golden)
5. Sleep like a baby within 20 mins.

 

Where do you work where you can sleep with no cooling? It’s 18:30 here and 107 degrees F. Truck and sleeper would be an oven without something running hard.

 

I have a generator/invertor that's mounted far back under the trailer. It runs a portable a/c unit in the sleeper down to 68*

I stay above I-20

 

Well that’s not an option for most. But I HAVE to have some sort of white noise to sleep. I literally can not sleep without some sort of consistent “ambient” sound. Absolute quiet is deafening when I’m trying to sleep.

 

The only thing that will help is if you practice self-discipline. All other advice goes out the window if you cant assert proper responsibility for your health.