It's a Team's Life

Sleeping on the job

This job was a shock to my system and my way of thinking.   I had rode with Bob for 5 years in a big truck but I was awake when he was awake.   When we traveled in a car I had no problem sleeping when the car was moving nor did Bob have any problem sleeping when I was driving.   I thought heck no big deal I have never had a problem napping …   Wow how wrong can you be.   What I forgot to take into consideration is those cat naps do not count for having to get up and drive 5 hours then try to sleep again laying down.   I also never slept where there were trucks going by my head at what seeming like inches at a high rate of speed.   Every noise, squeak, bump, and my imagination kept me from sleeping.   When the truck would stop both of would sleep as we were exhausted and then the cycle would start again we would get a load and one of us would try to sleep.   I was to the point of wanting to give the truck back to freightliner, file bankruptcy and do whatever it took to get out of the nightmare we were now living.   Then another load offer would come in and we would get excited over where we were going and we were off.   One of our main problems was the mattress in the truck one of the best Freightliner offered.   We were trying to sleep over bumps while we were thrown into the air from the bumps in the road and then we would hit the mattress and wake up again.   We bought a mattress similar to this brand http://www.sleepdogmattress.com/ but we paid way to much for our memory foam mattress.   The memory foam will not allow you to bounce going down the road so that took care of one problem.   Next was the noise so I bought good ear plugs, the ones that you mold to your ears to drown out all of the road noise.   I also went one step further and bought lavender sheet spray!   During this time the hours of service changed and instead of being able to drive 5 hour shifts we went to ten hour shifts so getting enough sleep was very important.   We made the decision to change drivers between 2 and 3 in the morning so both of us would get some dark sleep!   Between all of those changes I started sleeping!   Now I do not need the ear plugs and in reality if we are on a smooth road the noise of the truck lulls me to sleep.   When we get a load now there is no panic on trying to go to sleep as we both know when our driving shifts are and we easily get the correct amount of sleep.   Once we were able to get enough sleep our outlook on our chosen profession just kept getting better!

Bob & Linda Caffee
Leased to: FedEx Custom Critical
TeamCaffee
Saint Louis MO
Expediters 5 years been out here on the road ten years
[email protected]

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;
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