Driver Lifestyles

Wake Up - Tired Driver!

By Jeff Jensen, Editor
Posted Oct 30th 2006 4:49AM

In the expedited trucking business, neither carriers nor drivers always know ahead of time when a load will need to be moved. Pick-up and delivery times are made based on the needs of customers, and that call might come at any time.

For many expedited freight drivers, a typical day can begin when they awaken between 6am - 8am. They might spend the rest of their day involved in a variety of tasks, (including a nap), then be dispatched on a run that will pick up that evening and run through the night for a morning delivery the next day. Delivery schedules do not take into account the fact that the night is made for sleeping.

For the driver who has bills to pay and a family to feed, it's often impractical to refuse that run because he might experience fatigue in the later stages of the run. Fatigue is a constant "companion" in trucking when the freight has to get there.

A driver is not always the best judge at evaluating his fitness for duty, which means that many drivers are fatigued enough to impair their driving skills long before they are willing to admit it.

When an expedited driver has been on a layover for the previous 24 hours and has had a good night's sleep, followed by a leisurely day awaiting a load, he might feel quite energetic when he gets that run offer at 6:00 pm. It's a different story at 4:00 am the following morning and he still has X miles to go.

There are several signs to indicate fatigue while driving, and most of these will be familiar to the CMV driver:

*Impaired concentration

*Difficulty focusing, frequent blinking, or heavy eyelids

*Trouble keeping your head up

*Yawning repeatedly

*Trouble remembering the last few miles driven, missing exits or traffic signs

*Drifting from your lane, tailgating, or hitting a shoulder rumble strip

*Irritability or jumpiness

*Wandering or disconnected thoughts

Your internal clock

Most of us are familiar with the terms "Circadian rhythm" and "biological clock".

Your biological clock tells you when its lunchtime, gives you energy at certain times of the day, and affects your body temperature. Most people's clocks run on a daily rhythm of approximately 24 hours, but "body time" varies individually.

"Morning people" feel most alert in the early part of the day, while "night people" enjoy staying up late. Many teenagers and young people have clocks that make it easy for them to stay up late and sleep late. As people get older, they tend to wake up earlier and go to bed early.

Certain times of the day are "danger zones" for fatigue. For example, almost everyone's biological clock is programmed to make them feel sleepy in the middle of the afternoon. Many fatigue-related collisions occur between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., during this "afternoon lull."

The need for sleep is particularly strong between 2 and 6 o'clock in the morning. Drivers who constantly drive at night can become sleep deprived even though they may not exhibit sleep-deprived-performance problems. But these same drivers also lose the ability to perform at a high level.

The experts have found that drivers have a greater tendency to fall asleep while driving on the long, uninteresting stretches of road that are characteristic of many high-speed, rural highways.

Everybody's doing it

Drowsy driving and the commercial driver may be the focus of this discussion, but the tired driver problem applies to the driving public at large.

According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), one-half of adult drivers (100 million drivers), say they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy in the and almost two in 10 people (14 million drivers), have actually fallen asleep at the wheel.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes are caused by driver fatigue annually. This resulted in:

*An estimated 1,550 deaths

*71,000 injuries

*$12.5 billion in losses

The consequences of tired driving crashes can include high personal and economic costs. Several drowsy driving incidents have resulted in jail sentences for the driver.

Multi-million dollar settlements have been awarded to families of crash victims as a result of lawsuits filed against individuals as well as carriers whose drivers were involved in drowsy driving crashes.

Research

Studies by various agencies have found that most crashes or near misses occur between 4:00 - 6:00 a.m.; midnight - 2:00 a.m. and 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. are also peak times for crashes to occur.

According to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, people who sleep six to seven hours a night are twice as likely to be involved in such a crash as those sleeping 8 hours or more, while people sleeping less than 5 hours increased their risk four to five times.

A study by researchers in Australia showed that being awake for 18 hours produced impairment equal to a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .05, and .10 after 24 hours; .08 is considered legally drunk.

Other research indicates commercial motor vehicle drivers and people with undiagnosed sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and acute insomnia are also at greater risk for fall-asleep crashes.

What to do

Is it possible to fight fatigue?

Is it possible to will oneself to stay awake?

The answer is no, according to sleep scientists. At some point the body's need for rest will overcome the attempts of the conscious mind to remain wakeful. Stuck between a delivery time and a biological need for rest, knowing when one needs sleep and turning that knowledge into behavior is a survival skill.

According to the experts, these are "tricks" that don't work. Opening the window, turning on the air conditioning, or playing loud music are not effective in keeping drivers alert for any extended period of time.

Avoid caffeine during the last half of your workday as it may contribute to sleeping problems. You can gain short-term alertness by drinking coffee or other caffeine sources if driving, but it usually takes 30 minutes to take affect and wears off after a few hours.

The following tips on staying alert come from expedited drivers:

*Stop when you can, take a walk around the truck, perform some brief exercise and "get the blood flowing."

*Talk to your co-driver. (Just don't interrupt his/her sleep)

*Listen to TALK radio.

*Talk on the CB or the cell phone (using a headset, of course)

Highly recommended by drivers and by researchers is the Power Nap.

A power nap is a short nap, usually 15-30 minutes. It is thought by many to maximize the benefits of sleep versus time. It is more often used to supplement normal sleep, especially when the sleeper has accumulated a sleep deficit.

Advocates of this sleep pattern recommend various durations for a power nap. Many have a precise time which they say is optimal; such claims are usually made without any scientific evidence. People who regularly take power naps usually have a good idea of what duration works best for them.

In the Australian state of Victoria, the Transport Accident Commission has invested in advertising campaigns, advising drivers to take a "15 minute powernap" to help reduce the risk of fatigue when operating a motor vehicle.

Whatever method you find works best for you, please, stay safe and remember, a life will always be worth more than a load of freight.