It's a Team's Life
Sleeping in a moving truck
Over the years we have fine-tuned our hours of what times work best for our driving schedule. We both need some time when it is dark and neither of us is good at taking naps. Since Bob is a night owl he drives from 3 pm to roughly 3 am when I take over. Those times can and do shift some due to the availability of stopping areas.
Figuring out what drive shift will work in your operation could take some time for optimal results. During the light hours phones ring, Omnitrac beeps with loads, and we get in and out of the truck often.
When we figured out our times we stick pretty close to this schedule as we could get another load after we deliver and neither of us likes to drive on the other time frame. I do not like to drive into the night and Bob prefers not to see the sun come up. Sticking to a schedule has helped us to know when we need to get our rest and we are always ready to say yes to the next load.
Expediting is not all about getting miles it is all about working smarter and that means we might work a day and then not work the next day. Sticking to a schedule helps us when we are not running. We have known a few drivers that easily adjusted to getting enough sleep in a moving truck but that was not us. We both struggled and it was a surprise and we did not think we would have this problem.
Ideas we used to get quality rest:
- Have a good mattress that will not allow you to bounce
- Keep the sleeper dark and cool
- Use earplugs
- Use lavender sheet spray
- Read something before going to bed to let your mind settle
- Sleep against the back wall with a pillow behind your back
- We do not use a crockpot in the truck as we found we did not get good sleep with the strong smell of food cooking
Person driving:
- Try to not stop often
- Listen to book/music/podcasts using a headset
- Keep CB off or turned down
- Do not sing or laugh out loud
- Be considerate of the person sleeping, easy on the throttle and easy on the brakes, and watch for potholes so they can be avoided.
I track how many miles each of us has driven and I was pretty surprised at the numbers as I drive about ⅔ to the number of miles Bob drives. Once again it proves that expediting the loads usually happen in the afternoon.
Bob & Linda Caffee
TeamCaffee
Saint Louis MO
Expediters since January 2005
Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;
Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;
Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;
Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.