How the hell do you sleep as a team
 

Finishing up with my training. We are now running team. I'm usually a good sleeper but I can't sleep with this truck bouncing around. This tractor is crap, so I'm thinking that all those tractors that are blowing by me going up and down the hills on I40 out west, must be much smoother inside.

Or do you guys just get use to this. I'm not getting use to it, I'm going solo but I would like to know if all you team guys run like this?

I have to say I've been pretty hysterical about all of this as I'm making $65 and then only 28 cents to start. I know we all have to start somewhere, but they don't pay me enough to ruin my health with not eating and sleeping properly, or do I just have a negative attitude?

How close are you to finishing up training? If you're not getting the sleep you need to drive safely, just try to talk it out with your trainer and tell him you just can't do it. If that doesn't work, just call your safety department. That's what I would do.

Re: How the hell do you sleep as a team
 

If it's a short wheel base freight-liner that truck is going to beat you to death pretty much no matter what about the best you can do is replace the cheap factory tampon they call a mattress with a good one that will absorb some of bumps in the truck . Even the classic xl's ride choppy ,but those century's ride like the axles are just bolted to the frame ...this one area where you can't beat a KW or a Pete as even the short wheel base trucks ride smooth with their set ups .


Just try to finish up your training ,so you can get your own truck ,and start sleeping in a non moving truck . Don't drive if your dozing off ,but don't not drive just because you just feel stiff and lousy from a bad nights sleep ,as this will only delay you ,and make it that much longer until you go solo ...Yes team driving sucks ,but for the most part I don't know any company that will be any different than the current situation you're in with regards to training ,as many claim they don't run students like teams ,But that's complete B.S.

"If it's a short wheel base freight-liner that truck is going to beat you to death pretty much no matter what about the best you can do is replace the cheap factory tampon they call a mattress with a good one that will absorb some of bumps in the truck . Even the classic xl's ride choppy ,but those century's ride like the axles are just bolted to the frame ...this one area where you can't beat a KW or a Pete as even the short wheel base trucks ride smooth with their set ups ."


Yep Big Jeep, I just asked him and sure enough we're in exactly what you said, a short wheel base freight-liner. Well I am done next week and this guy is cool. considering putting two strangers in a small truck we are getting along well. He is going to stop for the night tonight so I can get a good nights sleep. We were ahead of schedule anyway.

I agree with 44, Freightshakers are just that...Replacing the matress with an inner- spring matress :shock: didnt help the bounciness...I still have bumps on my head from bouncing out of the sleeper lol.....You will be able to sleep after getting absolutely exhausted and sleep deprived. After you get one good sleeper period in, it gets a lot easier, you get used to it pretty quick. Dont expect to ever be fully rested, thats just not realistic as a truck driver.... :)Theres some degree of training yourself to deal with constant fatigue. I drove 557 miles last night and havent slept since 5pm yesterday, its now 6pm et and Ive been busy all day...If you must used coffee, use small quantities or itll keep you awake when youre in the sleeper.

That's why I have not ever even thought about running team. I cant sleep when someone is driving. I cant even sleep in a pickup when someone else is driving,let alone a truck.

If the spending more time off the mattress than on it while trying to sleep in a Freightliner won't get to you, then the lack of insulation to block out the road noise will. The loud roar from the tires, the clanking of the snow chains, the wind, trucks or Harley's blasting by, stereos thumping, horns honking, etc. you can hear it all. The last Freightliner we were in had no insulation between the engine and the cab either, we had to turn up the CB, and radio just to barely hear them and then we had to hold our conversations in a elevated voice.

Freightliner Columbia or Century's SUCK!!!!! Unfortunately so many companies use them because they are priced like a Yugo and they feel like one when you drive it.

You never get used to sleeping in one of those trucks, you just finally drop from exhaustion. Many a night I am driving with 5 or less hours of sleep, all so my company can save a buck by not buying a KW or Pete.

hard to sleep when the truck is moving got to really trust the other driver

First, you can manage your hours to get restful sleep.

1. With non-expited freight you can run 5-5-3-3 and shutdown the truck to sleep 8 hours. I have a posting why this works with the new HOS. Each partner gets 8 hours of work a day and at least 8 hours of sleep.

For those of you who sometimes protest too much :wink: ... Yes there is an inefficiency of 5.25 hour per person per week; however, remember the 70 hours in 8 days rule so you end up rolling 8 hours after 7 days where maybe the team could run out of hours. The extra time can be burned up doing pre-trips or a breakdown.

2. Run 10 - 10 and always shutdown the truck for 4 hours to get restful sleep.

Now the factors discussed in this thread....

I have found that running 12 / 12 keeping the same circadian rythum was the most helpful for me. But that might not work for you ... Basically you get off 12 hours and you are on duty for 12 hours. If you are drving you run 11 with two 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute break.

For sleeping in a moving truck ... I have found that NASA foam provides a pretty good platform for sleep. It takes about 4 inches to be meaningful.

Your partner has to be thinking they have somebody trying to sleep everytime they make a move or a shift with the truck. One thing I have found .. if they drive a car like a madman with passengers ... they will be no better drving a truck with a sleeping partner. Go for a ride before teaming :wink:

BTW) I am back to driving solo over the holidays but look forward to drving a three man team in January. No three people are not in the truck at once. Bascially it is 2 weeks drving one week with each of the other members of the team and 1 week off. This works well because you get a 1 week break to catch up on rest.

Sometimes it's hard enough to sleep solo in a truckstop with all of the cowboys jaking all around the lot. Sleeping while you are on the go is tough. After awhile you will just pass out and go to sleep...please don't be driving when this happens... :lol:

I ran team with the wife for a year. When we first started it was rough getting used to it. But then a day came when I was so tired I basically passed out. From that time on I had no problem sleeping in a moving truck. The bouncing truck actually became a comfort to me and it was actually a freightshaker. I find it very soothing to be in the sleeper of a moving truck. It's like getting used to pulling a reefer and having the damn think start up every 20 mins. It's like everything else. Once you get used to it, you'll never notice it. There are a few exceptions to the team driving thing though. There are a few roads out there that will find you about 6 inches of the mattress when you wake up.

Ya Hoo!

PS Keep the harness over you. It doesn't take much of a hard break to send you to the floor. It only takes once to teach you a lesson on that one.

I ran team for 2 years, hauling produce with an O/O when I first started driving. I don't recall ever sleeping while we were moving. We used to stop about twice a week and shut the truck down so we both could get some rest.

We normally stayed out 4-8 weeks, depending on the season. When we got back to the yard, it was nothing to spend 2 full days sleeping in a motel room, and then back on the road. Boy, I sure do not miss those days, that was real truckin! But I was in my early 20's, so I took the beating pretty well. No way I could do that now a days.

And yes, the truck had 2 beds.

When I was on "dumb and dumber" trainee team at Stevens, we had one of the last KW T600's with the 60" Aerodyne modular sleeper instead of the newer Aerodyne aerocab sleepers, so it had the old fashioned "hole" between the cab and sleeper. Made it easier to make it nice and dark in the sleeper.

Try tylenol PM or melatonin pills. They are in the vitamin section. Will help you get into a deeper sleep so you dont feel the bumps as bad.

Tylenol PM (oh yeah) and the soft ear plugs, out in 20 minutes for atleast 8 hours.

I already had the ear plugs but it wasn't the noise it was the bouncing. But we stopped the other night and then last night I took a sleeping pill, and by luck they are cutting my training short so I'm done with training and after a second road test I'll be on my own. Glad for that cause they weren't paying me enough to not sleep.

Thanks for all replies.

Yeah,...Dumb and Dumber is about right. When I was with Stevens, my trainee team guy not only scared the crap out of me almost every stinking time he drove. He drove way to fast around corners, and hit the rumble strip almost everytime he drove. he got the truck stuck in sand, got us lost way too many times, and drank pepto (the bottles would roll around the cab when it was my turn to drive), and he also crapped in his underwear and stored it on the top bunk. The cab smelled like a sewer,...glad its over (1999).
I will never team drive again,.......ever.

:lol: :lol: :lol: gross! :lol:

:shock: That's foul!!!

They should make trainers sign a pledge to be professional, and have some courtesy...... LOL

Jeeze! I will give my trainee partner some credit. The boy may have not been able to read a map or follow directions worth a god damn, but at least he didn't crap his pants. By the time we parted ways, he had improved his map reading. He was a redneck cowboy from Corpus Christi and I was a city boy from New Mexico. Any wonder why we got searched when we went to Canada? :o

I did my training in early 1998. I was still driving when you were there. 8)