Drowsy Driving, Zero Options

I'd have done some quick push ups, and jumping jacks before I parked on the shoulder and went through the trouble of setting up triangles.

Ramps are not optimal.. but they're 20x a better choice than the shoulder.
Even with a No Parking sign, at least it's just a non moving vio tix, and you could likely talk your way out of it when he saw how close to home you were and stopped for safety ANYWAY.
Sleep is natural.
Driving is monotonous and tedious.
It's an internal war.

 

Ok, settle down, this is the job. Complaining isn't going to make it better, YOU have to make the adjustments. I wouldn't have pulled off on the shoulder, in lieu of all the crashes, are you nuts?? This is the industry today, I couldn't handle it, but I got out BEFORE it got to this point. I knew it was coming. A walk around the truck, cup of Joe, or those poison energy drinks might get you there, but I've found, if you're that tired a 15 minute nap is the worst thing.

 

Maybe for you. For me, many others, the DMV state tests, and my own companies policy, the only way to cure drowsiness is by sleep. That's it.

This situation does suck to be in. OP was there room on the ramp at the rest area? If not, depending on where you were, what about an on ramp at the next exit?

The thing that I try to do is when I feel it coming on, don't wait until it gets bad. The next available parking space, I park and sleep 10 - 15 minutes. At night time in busy areas, this might include weigh stations if nothing else is available.

But again, sometimes it can hit all at once and the cop sounds like a real piece of work. Next time though OP I would try an on ramp if you're on the interstate and you can't make it any further.

 

You get sleep. Sleep is the one cure that fixes it. In order to sleep a human needs about 3 hours or so to complete a cycle to Rem for a time and back to light sleep in that period of time. It allows for a form of rest and repairs to your body and also to your mind.

Im sorry you did not handle the drowsy very well. Stopping on the interstate shoulder just to sleep a little will get someone ramming under your decapitation bar and kill them and their families. You will have the rest of your life to get structured sleep in prison.

So the rest area is full. Big deal. Move on. Summer time? Crank the air. Get the music going, hack your body's systems to drive the chemicals within you to temporarily stay awake (I usually turn on a radio program that kind of talk enrages me.. that buys me a hour tops... there is parking within 40 miles in that time.) have a little coffee get out a moment and run around your rig (Away from traffic) in short, all sorts of things instead of just sitting there getting sleepier and maybe mad about it.

What you might not yet have is stamina to do 11 hours. Or in the old days 10. In order to get that, you have to drop the excessive junk food, do away with the foods that just put you to sleep (There is a specific time and place for good meals carefully constructed to order) understanding of how your body functions and gains or loses power and so on.

In the end a proper sleep without interruption depending on your age and a routine stressfree morning (This is important so you get into the groove of driving without someone verbally horsewhipping you.) sleep is medicine. NOT on the side of the interstate. Its actually illegal.

Not driving in morning or evening rush in some cities. You pull into the truckstop prior to a bad big city full of angry traffic that is equal battle to you. You will feel stress and burn through what you had left. Two hours later into your morning trying to get out of say DC or cross bronx you are ready for another nap and its not even 10 am yet. tsk tsk tsk.

I had 7 hours last night of sleep, it's perfect, not more or less for the situation I am in medically. it was restful. I will be good for a time period of up to about 2 At that point I eat a lunch based on a protien and go get a nap that will take two to three hours at my age to REM sleep and back. When I get up I am ready for dinner rush hour in any city and into the night.

Here is the thing. I am a night runner not a day time. So today I had a short day on the logbooks, when I get hours legally on logs I will have 11 hours into the night for a new day. So from 2 until 10 or whatever, it's time to do 500 miles until morning.

No traffic, no stress, no problem. With exception of winter or other weather situations. Which you already have planned for.

Everything about a big rig says when you wake up in the morning say at 8 am bright and sharp... bounce into work happy as a bird... you have about 15 hours in your body systems until it begins to produce melatonian and other nighttime sleepy time stuff to wire you into bed again late tonight. Bye sleep tight.

Trucking logs written into Law by people who never drove a 18 wheeler and have tried to mess with it since the 1962 log HOS time will have you driving by day today then sleeping by day tomorrow then driving by night then flip flop flip flop.

Matching your food situation combined with hydrating good fluids without that sugar. A old German Pop drink called fanta will destroy my bowling score from average around 210 down to 130 becuase of that sugar. It's really bad to drink.

Now if you were good and drowsy or dragging into work early in the morning, a doctor inject you with Glucose? BOOM Superman you are for a while.

Imagine what that crap will do at my age 40 years later in trucking. i would be sleeping right next to you dreaming about that red trailer light ahead for several states.

Nobody has deliberately conspired to make you run like a machine 24/7 those days are gone forever for the most part. It's a young man's game which is why wars are fought by youngsters. At my age it's time to go to sleep. Short of something that requires it I can go 3 to 5 days without sleep. But it will be driven by a outside threat that is absolutely lethal or destructive in some form having nothing to do with regular life at work and home.

At some point you will sleep. Find a spot. One idea would be if you are a reefer trailer for example you drive into a major I mean major multi acre property filled with a gigantic food distribution, you slip in among other reefers pretending to wait for a dock no one ever comes out calling for trucks on radio. Since you are not on the list they never call you. (Provided the place does not have a gaurdshack)

Or pull into a scale house. I personally would not unless unable to get past it. And then only the minimum needed to get going. It's the way I am raised around them from my youngster days learning from DOT by ticket.

An old british custom would be to send sailors of ship of line to dinner prior to battle that will last 5 hours or more. I modify that to having a favorite motivating meal time that is pretty big, a short regulated one hour nap LIGHTLY following the wrist watch which is a form of power nap that needs some practice to get the edge for a while. Once things settle and you take off that food becomes fuel. And whatever the problem ahead for the day or night, you are not tired.

I can go on and on. I will oppose your thinking that the entire industry is a conspiracy to kill drivers by no sleep or "Force"

That is the last word I leave you. "Force." I yell ########. No one forced you to do anything you did not adequately plan for ahead of time. You know you are going to get sleepy sometime. You get a nap before then long before you hit that drowsy forcing for 40 piddling miles, 40 aint nothing. When you think of rolling say to NYC from Little Rock, it's about two days 1600 miles give or take a few. Get a set of naps carefully chosen and you are there. easy.

Trucking is not for everyone. I also think you are going about it the wrong way. When you think you can sit and rage-type about how the whole industry kills a generation of waifs like yourself who cannot structure your food, drink, naps, and formal sleep time properly to accomodate a required workday OR work night in trucking you had had time to plan for AHEAD of that day or night. You know what's going to happen when.

If I am up in say Odgen, I just put Wyoming behind me. Maybe a bit of nap at Pendelton at the J before I hit the Cabbage on the old Oregon Trail. Particulary if the temps are below freezing as I-84 in the dalles to Portland next to the Columbia River for 200 miles is a very very dangerous ice rink. You would be tip toeing for that distance. No complaining or whining mister, you knew this will happen. Before you got there.

If you want to type and say I know nothing about these things, it's time you learned. Or go home and work in a shift factory or gas station or some such. Some of the hardest staying awake I ever did was serving 3 customers over 10 hours at a gas station all night. Anything can and did happen and you know nothing about it because you were snoozing. That was me for a while. Bleah, not worth it.

Trucking is for those who can do, but in order to have the do you have to think AHEAD about EVERYTHING that the doing will require of you physically and mentally not to mention the time situation in your logs.

Get going yer late already.

 

When you trip plan, always have a multitude of options for parking when you get sleepy. As an aforementioned poster said, the on ramp is just fine. Some states wont allow it, like Wisconsin and Nebraska, but keep a list of options and pay close attention to places you travel. Over time, you'll learn little hideouts

 

I remember coming up I-95 through the Commie state of Maryland one morning. I'd been pushing myself hard that week, and my eyes were heavy. So I wheel into a rest area to find all the parking spaces full. There was no way I was going back out on the highway without a nap. So I made a spot on the ramp. As did about four other trucks.

Just as I fell into a deep sleep, there's a knock at my door. Now I'm downright pissy mad that some jerk would have the nerve to wake me up. I throw the curtain open to see Barney Fife outside.

"Licence and registration please"

So I give it to him, ask what's the problem.
"Parked illegal"

So I, in my pissed off mood, ask what the hell I'm to do when I can't keep my eyes open anymore and need a nap.

"Find a legal spot"

'But I'm in a #### REST AREA!!!!'

"Yeah but you're not parked in a legal spot"

'But they're all full'

"Not my problem, my problem is I have an illegally parked truck"

'So you'd rather I go continue down the road falling asleep at the wheel and run over someone just because I'm not in a legal parking space?"

"Not my problem" he says and walks away.

He came back with a $150 parking ticket. Goes through his whole Barney Fife speech about how to pay the fine. Then proceeded to inform me that I can stay right where I am until I'm ready to roll again. I scratched my name on the ticket, making sure I tore it, and tossed it out the window. Rolled the window up and went back to bed. He stood there a minute, shakes his head and walks to the next poor sucker.

When I sent them the check, I wrote some mean things on it, along with a nastygram I enclosed. They didn't hesitate to take my money, but never responded to my nastygram either. Commie ########...

 

Are you and insipidtoast related, by any chance?

 

To add to the joys of Maryland police. It is the only state I know that enforces it's vehicle code on out of state vehicles passing thru. I have a body dropped and air bagged ram and passing thru I was pulled over and impounded. Left me and my four year old daughter standing on the side of the road. Had to pay for a ride to the lot,pay to get my truck out, and hope that I wouldn't get pulled over again. ### hat had a camber gauge in the trunk of his car, try hard much?

 

Well played sir, well played lol. Same guy new name lol