Being an over the road long-haul truck driver has various risks associated with the job. The risk involves things like hazardous weather conditions, to sharing the highways with other motorists, and other hazards of the occupation. Commercial truck drivers also have to deal with controllable dangerous factors like fatigue, tiredness, drowsy and keeping from falling asleep behind the wheel. Even if you don’t completely doze off, drowsy driving can reduce your perception and reaction time, which increases the dangers on the road for other passenger vehicles. Accidents caused by sleepy truck drivers can cause devastating injuries to people, damage to property, cargo, or even fatalities.
The following are long haul truck driver tips to avoid drowsy driving and stay awake to avoid truck driving accidents:
The first and most important key to overcoming drowsiness on the road is to make sure you get plenty of sleep. Resting can help, but there is no substitute for sleep. Long haul truck drivers are legally required to rest. The best way to sleep is trying to sleep at the same time every day. Truck drivers have variable schedules so sleeping one day before may not be enough to stay awake. Drowsy driving only takes a split second to doze off for catastrophe to happen.
You need to pull over and rest while on the road. You can sleep in the sleeper section of your cab, hotel, home, or your friend’s house, but make sure to get enough sleep and rest. Understand your body when it’s telling you that you are fatigued or sleepy, immediately get off the road before it’s too late. Sometimes the trucking company offers financial incentives, or you are being paid by the mile, so truck drivers feel the pressure of driving long hours and fast to finish the job to make more money. Quick delivery is not worth putting the motoring public at risk of severe injury and loss of life.
Truck drivers more often than not find themselves in the road when they feel tired, fatigued, or sleepy. If you are yawning, feeling heavy eyelids, or tired you should immediately pull over for a short 20-45 minute power nap. Power naps are well known to recharge and improve a drowsy condition. Truckers can avoid a crash and causing an accident by power napping.
Truck driver bodies are like the rest of use, and they have a biological clock that is in sync with the sun’s daylight. Truck drivers try to train their bodies to handle the midnight shift lifestyle, but your body has a rhythm with the natural sun light. Truck drivers are born with being awake during the day when peak energy is aligned with sun. Try to drive during the daylight hours because you will keep energized and awake better.
If you must drive at night, be aware of your bodies limitations and feeling sleepy.
Truck driver should stay hydrated to help staying awake. Drinking water may cause the trucker to take more bathroom breaks, but this can help you rest as well as getting some fresh air and taking a walk. Truck drivers can be fatigued easier if they are dehydrated.
Try to avoid energy drinks, sodas, or coffee because they can have the opposite effect on you. This is not to say Truckers can’t have coffee or tea as a stimulant because they can increase the risks of drowsy driving, so don’t rely on stimulants to take away the tiredness, fatigue, or sleepiness. Drinking plenty of water as well to help keep your hydration levels charged.
Truck drivers never want to be distracted but listening to talk radio or podcast can help keep your attention to driving and stay awake behind the wheel. However, truck drivers must not lose their focus on the road. Listening to music can make you relax and cause you too easily doze off. Typically, programs that get you engaged and informed while driving are better way to stay awake.
Truck drivers should try to stay cool while driving because warm environments are more likely to cause you to fall asleep. Open one of the windows to cool the cab and allow fresh air to enter the truck’s cab. In cold climates turn down the heat in the cab. You don’t want to freeze yourself, but colder environments can help the truck driver stay alert and awake. Instead, the truck driver should find a temperature in the cab that is cold enough to make them feel mildly uncomfortable. The cold climate in the cab will make you too uncomfortable to fall asleep until you reach a safe place to take a power nap.
Healthy Habits
Truck drivers oftentimes find themselves easily binging on fast food, snacks, and sugary soft drinks. This junk food may give you a temporary boost but end up doing more harm than good. Unhealthy eating habits can make you gain weight, destroy your digestive system, cause heart disease, and make you feel sluggish and sleepy. Truckers need to make sure they eat small portions of healthy meals with plenty of protein, veggies, and fiber. The sedentary job associated with truck driving demands that you get plenty of nutrients and minerals to combat feeling tiredness and fatigued and help get plenty of sleep.
Truck drivers are a group of people at high risk of falling asleep. Stay awake or pull over. Truckers can be pulled over by police and given a ticket for being sleep deprived. Police officer generally look at truck drivers to see if they are driving beyond legal hours. Long-haul truckers are known to drive beyond the hour limitation. You can avoid a serious truck accident if you get plenty of rest and sleep
History tells us that all too often commercial trucks, or any big truck, which is involved in a crash, the damage is tremendous. Your well-being is our top priority. We make sure the first thing they do, after a trucking crash, is getting the proper medical attention. We want your health, and your the health of your family to be our first priority, while we investigate their claim. Despite the tactics used, we know how to make the trucking companies liable and their insurance company to pay your entitlement to compensation.
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We are a distinguished and powerful Michigan personal injury lawyers who will fight for your rights and demand the full and fair compensation you rightfully deserve. We know how a truck wreck can destroy your lifestyle and work diligently to help you overcome your tragic accident to the extent possible.
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed in a truck accident collision, contact The Joseph Dedvukaj Firm, to speak to a top Michigan truck accident attorney today for a free consultation.
Call us now for no obligation free confidential consultation at 248-352-2110 or Toll Free at 866-447-3563. We would be honored to assist you.
