Managing sleep schedule?

forget the critics you see they are the newbie heroes
when trip planning every load is different
always build in extra time on loads if your asked an eta
i like getting up driving at 2 am but take a 1-2 hour nap every day
it might be a different kind of trucking is for you
or you just need more time adjusting
only you can answer that
after all these years i know myself i am no good driving 8 pm to 2 am
i can do it but ruins me next 3 days so i plan accordingly and found a job it happens seldom
good luck

 

Some drivers prefer driving at night vs. during the day.

Quite often there is less traffic and less chances of being pulled into a weigh scale.

Also, some people are night owls by nature.

 

It was much easier when I was on the road because I didn't have to deal with the 14 hour brick wall. I could take cat naps during the day if the load allowed, without worrying over the 14 hour BS.

The 14 hour rule is one of the biggest safety fiasco's I have ever seen.

 

The FMCSA/DOT/FEDERAL statistics show differently. Truck accidents have been on the rise over the past 5 years in most states. A simple GOOGLE search is all you need to research this yourself.

 

Once all the anxiety wears off you will be fine...only thing that will hold you back from being successful is if you use this dumb*** line again...."Qualcomm led me down the wrong road"

Best of luck.

 

Are you making your appointments on time? If yes then it doesn't matter. Break when you want for however long you want and who cares what anyone thinks. None of us are driving your truck.

 

Like any new job or even new company you have to acclimate to it. You learn the unwritten rules, the tricks and the flow of things and before long it's all second nature. I honestly feel I can drive a truck better than my own car. I can pick up a load in Maine and tell you to within an hour when I will be in San Diego and not even need an atlas. Most guys that have been running OTR for years can, I'm not special I just have more time in the saddle. You will get there as well.

I remember when I first started I use to watch in amazement when a driver would back in a split axle flat between two long nose Petes at a tight truck stop and I would think "man ill never be able to do that". Now, it's no big deal to me. A parking spot is just another thing I have to do.

Point is, you're new and you will improve and you will become your own trucker with your own way and it will all work out.

 

What was the reason for the 14 hour rule to begin with?

 

It gets easier..............give it time. Stress might be affecting you more right now than sleep without realizing it.

It's a whole new world and you are taking things in at a very fast pace.

Things will slow down for you mentally once to get situated.

Best of luck pards! Hope things go well for you.

 

Probably some study told the non truckers who make the rules that at that magic hour all of us terrible truckers instantly veer into the closest school bus and our trucks explode in a mini nuclear explosion that can be seen from space..


But that's just my theory.