Can Anybody Help With a Sleep Schedule??

The bottom bunk has a safety net that no one ever seems to use. lol

If I wake up and the truck is in a river after sliding off the road I don't want that thing locked in.

I hate water. I would be screaming like a little sissy.

 

I had a co-driver that thought that was funny too. Just once. Nothing like having your ### tossed in the floor with a hard brake to get your attention.

He kept it on the road after that.

I give as good as I get.

 

I think it was route 65 in Missouri going northbound. There were a lot of hills and sharp curves. My codriver couldn't sleep a wink all day. I was trying to take it easy but I kept getting impatient truckers stuck behind me flashing their brights and blowing their airhorn. I was only going around 55, wasn't going THAT slow. Had a codriver I was trying to be considerate for. Days like that happen and you just can't sleep. That day I had a STEEP upgrade at one point. Steepest I've taken so far. It was nuts.

 

When I occasionally ran team with a friend we always did 12 hour shifts(7 to 7) and it is expected but not required that either one take an hour nap during the shift or just rub elbows with the "navy seals" at the lunch counter. 2am and 2pm were favoured times for a rest. The 2am in particular as that is when a normal persons body temp drops (12am to 3 am) regardless of how well rested they may be. Some folks are also hindered by dawn. Its whatever works for you and your partner.

 

12AM to 3AM no problem. Dawn kills me. Sun coming up tells me it's time to sleep, except I usually have another 4-5 hours.

Codriver woke up one morning and I had it parked for a nap. I was sleeping on the drivers seat with legs stretched out over the passenger side and just kinda hanging off the seat. That was an especially hard morning. I had just gotten off hometime, and dispatch has a bad habit of calling me half a dozen times throughout the day before my load is ready, and I'm already in the truck trying to get rested for the trip. They're are multiple dispatchers and they all call me...plus my codriver likes to call me to give me updates on when he's arriving. I told him dude, I don't care. You'll get here when you get here. lol

 

Scary ain’t it!?

I used to know by the ramp and feel of the truck exactly where we were.

I knew I’d slipped into good NREM sleep if I couldn’t figure it out immediately.

 

One other thing I can tell you when you are teaming and driving into the late hours of night, or any driving really I guess, learn the symptoms of fatigue. Some days you won't sleep well due to the road. Because if you are anything like me, it sneaks up on you and you may not even realize it. You can literally be asleep and driving at the same time. You don't want that. You will be awake enough to keep your truck on the road, not in your lane, but wont be awake enough to process speed limit changes or warning signs

I learned through my own observation about myself being mindful I pass from just being tired to fatigue when I start seeing shapes on the road in front of me. If I keep driving I start seeing Daffy Duck dancing in the road ahead. That's when it's time to shut down.

Here's an article from psychology today if you are interested:

Can people drive while asleep?
(It says basically when you are driving and asleep some parts of your brain are sleeping and other parts are still awake)

I see fatigued truckers on the road weekly usually after midnight and before 3AM. They can't stay in their lane and they tail whip their trailer a lot. They also speed up and slow down a lot and hard brake. They don't realize they are driving that way at the time.

In my case when I am at that point a nap will not fix me. I have to just stop for the day and call my dispatcher and tell them we are going to be late and my codriver wont have his hours for x amount of time and I can't keep rolling.

And don't let your codriver pressure you into keep driving. It's not worth it. I tell my partners first hour I meet them, if you get tired, please stop. Don't keep driving. We can be late.

 

Back when I worked with England and their darn forced teams. I always made sure what kind of driver the other guy was. I can run anytime though I did prefer to start very late nights early mornings around 2am. If the other guy was a night crawler I would give him the brunt 8pm to 8am. If he was strictly solar powered I’d give him 6am to 6pm. It all depends on what kind of driver you and he/she is. If you’re both solar powered then share the light do 12-12.