Introduction: The Importance of Sleep on Health, Happiness, and Safety
Sleep is important for everyone, but it’s even more important for us truck drivers because the nature of our job can act as a direct nemesis to getting a good night’s sleep. For truck drivers, sleep is such an important facet of our well-being, happiness, and our safety behind the wheel. Studies reveal alarming statistics, showcasing the profound impact of sleep on health, with chronic sleep deprivation significantly increasing the risk of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes by up to 50%.1 Moreover, the significance of sleep extends beyond physical health, with research highlighting its pivotal role on our happiness; sleep-deprived individuals are 70% more likely to experience symptoms of depression and anxiety, a concern amplified for those over-the-road and away from family and friends for extended periods of time.2 Furthermore, some statistics underscore the dire consequences of inadequate sleep on driving safety, with fatigue-related crashes accounting for a staggering 13% of all commercial motor vehicle fatalities.3
How I Manage to Sleep Well on the Road
Despite spending 95% of my time on the road, achieving restful sleep has become a consistent aspect of my routine. Rarely do I rely on alarms or wake up feeling unrested. The reason? I prioritize sleep because of how much inadequate sleep affects my driving enjoyment and productivity. I have found there is such a big decline in the happiness level of my trips when I’m tired. There is also huge decline in my productivity levels. So basically when I am sleep deprived, not only is driving a struggle, but I don’t get a damn thing done when I stop—a double blow to my priorities.
Unfortunately, one of the best sleep practices of going to bed and waking up at the same time is just absolutely impossible while trucking. So, how do I manage to attain quality sleep night after night? In this blog post, I will share the strategies that have proven effective for me on the road. By implementing these tips, I hope to assist my fellow truckers in securing the rest they need, ultimately enhancing their health, happiness, and safety.
Sleep Strategies Start During the Drive
Exercising is probably the most beneficial thing I do to sleep well on the road and is an integral part of my sleep regimen. If I stop working out for a few days my sleep starts to get worse and I actually say to myself “Okay, I need to work out today because I need to sleep better”. It’s like sufficiently tiring myself out paves the way for deep and rejuvenating sleep.
If you grow tired and need to take a nap during the middle of your drive, set your alarm for exactly 20 minutes. A 20-minute nap, also known as a power nap, can help you feel more alert and refreshed for the next four to six hours. This type of nap is made up of light sleep stages, which can improve mood, sharpen focus, and reduce fatigue. I find that if I limit my nap to 20 minutes, I avoid feeling groggy because it is too short to enter into deep sleep stages. Sleeping longer than 20 minutes runs the risk of going into deep sleep and you may not want to get up.
Toward the end of your drive, if the temperature where you are going to park for the night will be either hot or cold, start regulating the temperature in the cab in preparation for sleep. Turn up the heat or the AC in those final 30 minutes. Then, as soon as you are parked, close the side window and windshield curtains. Close these curtains, even if you intend to close the sleeper curtains as well, in order to trap as much of the heated or cooled air as possible. Doing this can make up to a 20-degree difference in the temperature in the morning. Trust me, I’ve tested it.
It’s hard for me to go right from the driver’s seat to the bed. I need a little bit of wind-down time. So, sometimes I will save tasks such as cleaning up or bookkeeping until the end of the drive so that I can make efficient use of the time I need to wind down.
To minimize disruptions during the night, avoid consuming liquids 2 to 4 hours before bedtime. This strategy reduces the likelihood of needing to wake up for bathroom breaks, promoting uninterrupted sleep.
Optimizing Sleep Positioning and Location
Sleep Location
As far as sleep location goes, my first choice is at a fitness center–either Planet Fitness or LA/Esporta Fitness. I love waking up at the gym where I can wake up, wash up, and workout in the morning. My second choice is where I am picking up or delivering. However, beware of early wake-up calls from arriving personnel, especially if they start working before your scheduled appointment time. So, if you want to ensure you get to sleep in a bit, don’t sleep on their property.
If you have any type of altitude sensitivity issues, you must trip plan so that you don’t have to stop on top of the mountain. I got caught in Idaho Springs (7526 ft.) in the Rockies once when my HOS expired, forcing me to sleep up there and I was sick all night.4 So now when I travel the Rockies, I plan my trip so that I can get up and down in one day. I like to start from Grand Junction if traveling east and Denver if traveling west.
Sleep Positioning
If you park on an incline or slope, make sure your head is higher than your feet when you lie down. This may require reversing your usual sleep position, sleeping with your head at the foot of the bed.
If you park next to a loud reefer or running truck engine, position your head on the opposite side, away from the loud noise.
Similarly, when parked near busy roads, position your head away from the traffic to reduce noise disruption during sleep.
Put your phone on Do not disturb or sleep mode so that you are not disturbed by broker’s or dispatcher’s check-in calls.
Be careful if you have your sleeper window open next to an idling vehicle with fumes coming from it. I swear I almost died from carbon monoxide one night but my self-preservation system kicked in and woke me up.
I have earplugs but I don’t really need them. As a trucker, if you can’t get used to the rumbling sounds of other trucks next to you or sleeping on the side of the road with the cars racing by then over-the-road trucking might not be for you because these sounds are ever present.
If you have any issues with obstructive sleep apnea or snoring , sleeping on you side will help alleviate these.5 Go to sleep on your side with your back wedged up against the back wall so you don’t unwittingly switch to sleeping on your back in the middle of the night. Also, sleep with as cold a temperature as you can tolerate, especially if you can get cold air into your face. This helps stop your throat from becoming too flabby, keeping your throat tight and reducing or even eliminating snoring.
Use My Temperature Guide to ‘Un-cover’ Your Sleep System
With the right approach, idling your truck becomes unnecessary except in extreme temperature conditions. The enclosed space of the truck maintains a temperature roughly 20°F warmer than the external environment, thanks to your body heat and breathing if the window and sleeper curtains are closed. It’s essential that you learn your personal comfort strategy for sleeping because the temperature varies so much when you’re trucking. I have experienced 50-degree temperature swings from where I woke up to where I went to sleep. Upon retiring for the night, even if the engine isn’t idling, the residual warmth within the truck provides initial comfort. However, it’s essential to dress appropriately to avoid being either too hot or too cold, which can disrupt sleep.
This system simplifies the process by allowing you to gauge the coldest or warmest expected temperature for the night before settling in. By layering accordingly, you can ensure a comfortable night’s rest without interruptions. I’m a hot sleeper so your technique may vary a bit from mine but you can use mine as a guide.
Here’s a breakdown of temperature ranges and my corresponding sleep attire:
- 86°F and above: I will consider idling the truck if temperatures are excessively high.
- 85°F to 75°F: Underwear; and utilize a direct fan for cooling; a fan blowing directly on me in my underwear can keep me comfortable up to around 85°F without needing air conditioning.
- 75°F to 65°F: Underwear; no blanket, no light cover.
- 65°F to 55°F: Underwear and socks; with a light cover.
- 55°F to 45°F: Underwear and socks; with both blanket and light cover.
- 45°F to 35°F: Underwear, socks, and tights; with both blanket and light cover.
- Under 30°F: Underwear, socks, tights, long sleeve shirt; sleeping bag
- Under 20°F: Underwear, socks, tights, long sleeve shirt or sweatshirt, blanket, light cover, and sleeping bag.
- Under 15°F: Idle the truck. Truck becomes primary concern. The vibration will help prevent the diesel from freezing and don’t set the trailer air brakes.
By tailoring your sleep attire to match the anticipated temperature, you can enjoy uninterrupted rest regardless of external conditions.
After Exercising, Upgrading My Mattress Has Had the Biggest Impact on My Sleep Quality While Trucking
Buying a Purple mattress was the best investment I ever made. It is the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on, more comfortable than those in fancy hotels and my own more expensive mattress at home. The Purple mattress, combined with the blackout curtains, which create a dark cocoon-like effect, don’t just make for a great sleep environment, they make sleeping in my truck the most comfortable place I can sleep. Period.
The only drawback to the Purple mattress is it’s very heavy and makes it difficult to lift to access the compartment underneath. Which makes getting to tools and stuff a little more difficult. One mechanic told me he had the hardest time changing one of my filters because of how heavy it was.
A Trucker’s Tale, and a Final Sleep Tip
Even though I think it would make the journey more interesting, sleep is probably the main reason I’m hesitant to pick up riders. I once picked up a woman at a truck stop because she was stranded and had been abandoned by another truck driver. I was going to help her get back home but the very first night she was in and out of the truck multiple times in the night while I was trying to sleep. Thankfully, she ended up going with some other truck driver that she met in the middle of the night. Probably opting for someone who, unlike me, wasn’t demanding that she clean up her act as a stipulation of the ride.
The night before the night she was in and out of the truck we were in a hotel. She offered me some ******* and I tried it. That was the first and only time I’ve ever done it. I didn’t feel any euphoria or anything like that, but it did allow me to see the future. When I say see the future, I don’t mean in a psychedelic kind of way, more like a focused kind of way. I’m a future thinker but easily distracted. So typically when I plan, I can only think so far out in advance before getting distracted or losing my train of thought. So my thinking constructs under normal conditions, resemble a simple and tiny house of cards made of just a card for each side, one card across the top, and then a little two-card pyramid on top. But on *******, there was uninterrupted focus, absent of unwanted distraction. I could focus and plan so many steps ahead without losing my train of thought. It was like building card castles in the sky… That’s what I mean when I say I could see the future. But anyway, see what I mean about getting distracted. The reason why I am mentioning this is because it brings me to my final sleep lesson. I couldn’t sleep at all that night. So, if you value a good night’s sleep, steer clear of drugs. The temporary clarity they may offer pales in comparison to the detrimental effects they have on sleep quality and overall well-being.
- Study citation: “Sleep duration and quality: Impact on lifestyle behaviors and cardiometabolic health: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association.” Journal of the American Heart Association, vol. 6, no. 8, 2017, doi:10.1161/JAHA.117.005947. ↩︎
- Study citation: Grandner, M. A. “Sleep, Health, and Society.” Sleep Medicine Clinics, vol. 10, no. 1, 2015, pp. 81-87, doi:10.1016/j.jsmc.2014.11.007.
↩︎ - Study citation: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). “Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2019.” FMCSA Analysis Division, 2020, https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/data-and-statistics/large-truck-and-bus-crash-facts-2019. ↩︎
- HOS stands for Hours of Service. It refers to regulations set by government authorities, such as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in the United States, that dictate the maximum amount of time commercial motor vehicle drivers are allowed to operate their vehicles and the minimum amount of rest required between driving shifts. These regulations are designed to prevent driver fatigue and reduce the risk of accidents caused by tiredness. ↩︎
- Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disorder characterized by repetitive pauses in breathing during sleep, typically due to the collapse of the soft tissues at the back of the throat, leading to disrupted sleep patterns and potentially serious health consequences. ↩︎