Pulled myself off the road this morning

Know exactly what you're talking about.

 

10-4

 

I have night runs I do often. Anywhere from 7-9 PM to 7-9 AM the next morning. Helps that I'm a natural night owl and don't mind staying up till 3 am the night before and sleeping till noon or whenever the day I go out. Then the trick is to eat a good meal before starting out but try not to eat much of anything on your 30 minute break in the middle of the night or it will just make you crave nap time even worse. I usually make a beeline for a big coffee and maybe *one* small donut or a jerky stick just as a little snack. When I first started doing nights I was also relying on the 5-hr Energy shots as a little insurance against grogginess a few hours later, but I weaned myself off of those after a couple weeks. (They taste gross and are a ripoff at $3-4 each.)

Other than that, sometimes just pulling into a rest area for long enough to take a leak and get a snack out of the vending machine is enough to wake you back up if you're starting to get tunnel vision. Getting out of the truck for a few minutes get the blood moving and gets some fresh air in you

 

A super trucker says, "i got this" then they crash.

A real trucker says, "i gotta shut down, i know my body, and im not stupid." Then they go home to their family.


Keep it dirty side down driver.

 

You can't deliver the load if your in the ditch. Which I have been in a few times. If your tired pull over it's that simple.

 

Just like everyone else is saying, don't let it get to you, man. It's a tough transition to go from working in the daytime like the majority of the population to working at night. I haul produce and we all know how ridiculous the appointment times are for produce. 95% of the time, I have to leave home around 1AM, commute 1 hour to the truck, and then I start my day (or night, if I may). The previous company I worked for did haul a ton of reefer freight, but their guys in the office were smart (and lucky a lot of the times) and they were able to make a ton of appointments during the day. Now I work for a different company and haul to a lot of locations that do their appointments in the middle of the night. I wasn't made aware of this when I interviewed for the job, but it doesn't bother me. At first, it really sucked. I couldn't sleep but a mere two hours before I had to get in the truck and work. I'm getting more adjusted to it now. It takes a lot of time to be able to get adjusted to working at night.

The worst part about working at night is that no matter how much rest you get, there is no sunlight. No sunlight means that your body is going to produce melatonin. And a lot of it. And that's going to make you tired. Like I said, it's going to take time to get adjusted to working at night. Now that I have been doing it, I kind of like it. Some days, anyways. I still prefer to work the "normal" hours most of the time, but if I am feeling good and in a good mood, I enjoy it more for two simple reasons: There is less traffic, and you never have to wait for fuel at truck stops!

Another reason I can deal with my night work is because I am only a local-regional driver. The most I ever have to drive at one time is 4-6 hours (and that is rare), with the majority of my one-way driving time falling anywhere from 1-3 hours. And I'm hauling produce so there is a ton of break down at stops, which means I only have to drive for a little while and then I can catch some Z's for a little bit. A 2-3 hour nap will make me feel pretty great. So overall, at least for me, I don't have it all that bad.

Take time to learn your limits. Don't be afraid to stop if you're tired like you did. I'm lucky that a lot of my stops aren't too time sensitive, so I can stop and take a break or stop and eat if I need to. My job is very laid back which really helps with the driving at night.

 

dont beat yourself up op ! , slow down or you will burn yourself out or have an accident .
when i started in the 80s logs and oos didnt mean jack and companies would push ya to the point of being so burned out ya just didnt give a dam .
only thru the grace of god do i have 3 million accident free miles .

 

I am a night person. Always have been, well ever since I got bitten by that bat.

You did the correct thing. If you have any doubts ask the lawyers that sued Walmart for Tracy Morgan. $75 Million? Was your load worth that?

 

Dude you did the right thing. Always better to shut it down. Live to truck another day....