Team driving with a CPAP Machine

I can’t believe I read the whole thread up to here, and I really can’t believe that I’m going to actually post in it, but I have sleep apnea and have used a CPAP machine for ten years, including several weeks during training, sharing a truck with my trainer, and more recently for a couple of weeks training another driver.

When I was the trainee and slept in the upper bunk, I kept my machine wedged in the front corner of the bunk next to my pillow, with an extension cord that I dropped down to plug it in when needed.

In my own truck, I keep the machine stowed like that on my bunk when I’m driving, then putting it out on the shelf next to the bunk for use when I’m parked. It stays put just fine, and is quiet enough that it never bothered either trainer or trainee.

This has worked just fine for the last six years.

 

LOL... as far as he can tell this thread is only 2 pages long.

 

Why were you in bed if you were supposed to be training?

 

I’m still intrigued somebody commented early on, that some co-workers are allergic to Velcro?

 

My trainer didn’t drive, he was training me. My company doesn’t make us team drive during training. A trainer isn’t much help if he’s sleeping!

 

you can throw the CPAP into a mesh bag and hang the bag from the top bunk, or another location, while using it without taping it to some surface. Tape = sticky mess & ineffective after a short period. As a recovering over-thinker, the most important thing to know is "it can be done" and "it depends exactly on the details". I suggest the OP wait until he, the machine, co-driver, and truck are all in the same location and then start looking for the solution. Alter that solution as you discover unanticipated situations in actual use.

It's impossible to have every question answered and equip yourself with ALL of the materials before you even get to the truck. I wish it were possible. I tried for years to do exactly that. Just relax and know you can find a solution, you are not the first human in history to face ANY situation. Dumber people than almost anyone have lived with the situation for yeas before you experience it. It's a situation not a final exam.

 

I have that and you can break the habit or reduce the anxiety it causes by just deciding once in a while to NOT preemptively fix some problem before you need to. Plumbers and electricians don't do all of their work and then ship a completed plumbing system to a home being built. They bring their tools, skills, and knowledge, combined with the blueprints, order supplies, then get to work. It's a situation not a final exam.