How do you not fall asleep?

Hey my ex was like that... it was horrible since I only get 6 - 8 hours per day and she would sleep for 12 - 15 so I would have to tip toe around the house for eight hours while she slept and man that sucked that I couldn't watch TV or listen to music because she was sleeping forever.

 

Mine goes to sleep around 10pm and calls me around noon when she wakes up literally sleeping 1/2 her life away...As long as it doesn't effect her slim figure, I aint complainin'!

 

Some of us can go without sleep for days and others can't stay awake a full day.

Before the HOS was enforced so strictly, trainers for the big companies used to keep trainees awake as long as possible to "Build up resistance" to fatigue. Yes, it's pure B.S., and the trainer was usually making the trainee do most of the driving to collect all the miles he could for a fat paycheck.

It was nothing to drive around the clock - day and night- for two or three days, then crash for a good nine hours and do it again.

And honestly, you can choose to believe me or not, but I have stayed awake and driving around the clock many times for almost two weeks at a time with nothing more than a random short nap once in awhile. And I've heard that a person will die after a week without sleep, but I say it's an urban legend, a lot of us used to live in the driver's seat and roll like that.

So I have some interesting things to say about staying awake, and some real tips. First thing, you're going to get sleepy if you're comfortable. So push your driver's seat forward and flatten the bottom of the seat as far as it will go- in a few hours your back will start to hurt. (No, this is not a joke).

And if you are beginning to get sleepy, a good shot of pain will give you a boost. The easiest way to do this is to grab the top of your left forearm with your right hand. Pinch the skin hard and deep as you can using all four fingertips. You're pinching a large nerve group- it'll flood you with pain which increases adrenaline, endorphins, and pisses you off.

If you still have twenty hours of straight driving to do at this point, doing it pissed off is an advantage.

After awhile your body starts to ignore your sore forearms, so you should go to plan "B". Oh- maybe before you go there, you'll want to rip out some eyebrow, moustache and nose hair- it'll keep the rush going so you can pace yourself.

Anyway, always keep a package of wooden spring-loaded clothespins in the truck. When shouting and slapping yourself in the face won't work anymore, take out a clothespin and hang it on one of your earlobes. Make yourself leave it there, it's there for your own good. Now the serious fun starts. In an hour or so it will lose it's effectiveness, so put another one on your other earlobe. By now, you'll hardly notice the hours flying by. Sooner or later, this too will start to lose it's effect, so you can place a clothespin on your upper lip.

Clothespins on the face should give you another six hours or so of motivation, but that trick won't last forever. Anyway, it's hard to slap yourself awake when it knocks them off.

So, to recap- you have no nosehair left, half of your moustache is ripped out, and one eyebrow is gone. Probably on the opposite side of your missing moustache hair. Your forearms are bruised and throbbing, so are your earlobes and upper lip. And your face should be red and irritated from a couple of hundred crisp slaps. At this point if the sun hasn't come up yet, you only have one more option to use, and this is for desperate emergencies ONLY. Even the thought that you will have to resort to this last trick to stay awake will scare you awake for a couple of hours.

Here goes: the one last, desperate thing that will NEVER fail to work under any circumstances.

You take a palm sized piece of aluminum foil (as thick as possible) and you wad it up into a tight ball. Then, you bite down on it as hard as you can with your metal fillings. I don't care how sleepy you were, this is the sure cure. It's almost like sticking your tongue in the 12V outlet (they used to call them the cigarette lighter).

So, now you know my secrets. There's one common sense, "Don't ever do this" that comes with this information- don't ever- and I mean don't EVER- NEVER- drive across a state scale with clothespins hanging on your earlobes and top lip with your eyes watering down your face, and end up in the weigh station trying to explain why you have one eyebrow and a half a moustache. ESPECIALLY if your face is numb from chewing on tinfoil and you talk like you've been eating ice cubes. (That foil will make it hard to talk for awhile).

Anyway, like I said- if you've never had to get tough like this to deliver loads for a living you don't have to believe a word of this. I will tell you that it's all true, and it's all been done. And don't ask me about the time I was put out of service with a bruised, swollen face- That part I would like to forget.

But, that's how you stay awake if you have to.

 

After a while I get used to the looks. When I first met my girlfriend I thought she was so hot and now I don't even pay attention even when other guys were turning heads. I think it is because I see her without the makeup and sexy clothes and know how she REALLY looks like without the artificial coverup.

 

I agree with the advice that if you need to, please pull over and SLEEP! But if you can't....

Dave, first I laughed. Then I was all "Holy jeebus on a stick!" I guess if you get yourself into a situation where you would be tired, those things are sure to wake you up! And I bet we'd all LOVE to hear the story of how that went down!

 

How is sitting still for 34 consecutive hours maximizing any paycheck?

 

There are 2 schools of thought on maximizing your hours. 1 is to run hard and use up all your hours and take a 34 and 2. run 7 days a week not going over 70 hrs in 8 days. I run 7 days a week and when time permits I will take the 34 (between loads) . I have ran both ways and make more running 7 days a week. Get your sleep and plan ahead always and you wont have to run like your a tweeker.

 

try a calculator and some basic math skills.




American Trucker

 

when i went with my trainer i had to build myself up for driving ten hours at first couldnt do 4 let alone 11 then as time went on i got up to 11 by the time i took the upgrade i was good to go however every now and then i get tired and pull over and sleep no load is worth ur life or that of others